


wireless

by sarangway



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, and fake robot sanha, ceo minhyuk, i'm not a robot au, robotics scientist eunwoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-03-06 04:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13403490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarangway/pseuds/sarangway
Summary: lee dongmin, robotics scientist, needed someone to fill in for his broken robot. after yoon sanha took the job for his best friend, a ceo named park minhyuk took interest.





	1. Chapter 1

“I just need you to be a robot for a day!”

“Dongmin, are you literally insane?” Sanha sipped his americano and stared at him incredulously, shocked that his best friend would even suggest such a thing. He supposed that having a scientific brain included not making any sense. “Don’t you have like three days before the competition? You went to college for robotics, shouldn’t you be able to fix it in time?”

He covered his face and rested his head on the table. “It was a big malfunction, so it messed with the files too, not just the physical framework.”

“Then don’t enter it to the competition? Aren’t there other ones for rocket scientists?”

“God, of course you don’t understand.” Dongmin took the drink from Sanha, frowning at him. “This is a really big opportunity, the prize is over five million won. With that, I could upgrade the robot so much more.”

Fine, Sanha understood how important it was to Dongmin, but really the idea of him pretending to be a robot was a bit shocking to him. Wouldn’t it be pretty clear to a bunch of scientists that he was a human, not a robot? Dongmin was smarter than him by far, but clearly he didn’t think that through. He looked down at his phone and opened his calendar, praying that the day Dongmin wanted him would be filled with work – but unfortunately for Sanha and luckily for Dongmin, he was free. He looked up at Dongmin and his best friend grinned, squishing Sanha’s face between his hands and kissing his forehead. God, he would have to exfoliate twice tonight.

***

                Even if he was unsure about becoming a robot for Dongmin, he did admit that being allowed in his lab was rather incredible. Sanha was a clumsy person and his friend obviously knew that, which lead to him never being allowed in. He had met Dongmin at a much younger age, Sanha now being twenty-two and Dongmin twenty-five, and had known him through middle school and now past college. Sanha had always lived his life with an end goal of a comfortable office job in some firm where he would grow up to have a family and live an average, good life. Dongmin had always reached for the stars, whether it be in invention or otherwise. He had easily shot up to top of the robotics department without much competition. It got him a lot of flack with the senior students and caused him a lot of heartache, but Sanha was always ready to fight whoever he needed to when it came to his best friend.

                Dongmin sat him in a chair for damage control, telling him to wait as he opened the programs he needed and brought the robot into the room. The separate storage room was where he kept it under tight security, which was needed especially for the price that was needed for building it. Sanha remembered Dongmin’s many part-time jobs before his scholarships and grants rolled in. If there was anything he could easily say was Dongmin’s most precious possession, it would quickly go to the robot.

                It was rolled in with a cloth covering it, and once it was taken off Sanha felt unsettled. “Why does it look so creepy?”

                A blush tinted Dongmin’s cheeks. “I’m not a designer, and it’s just a temporary face.” Sanha grimaced, and Dongmin sat at his desk and turned the robot on. “I’ll show you how he moves for now, you’re just going to have to remember how and otherwise there’s nothing else for you to do.”

                “Don’t I have to talk or something?” He stuck his tongue out at the robot but closed his mouth quickly when Dongmin turned around.

                “Er…no. We can avoid it for now, I’ll just say that the voice isn’t finished and you’ll only have to say hello.” Dongmin smiled at him. “Thank you for standing in, by the way. I’m sorry that it’s such short notice.”

                “It’s fine, let’s just get to learning how to I’m supposed to be a chunk of metal.”

                Sanha expected it to be a lot easier to copy a robot’s movements, especially considering how many people he watched on YouTube do it, but instead he had to consider that Dongmin’s robot had a specific style of joint that allowed fluid movements with some limitations. For example, he couldn’t run, or even walk at an elevated pace. For someone who was constantly running around, this was going to be a difficult thing to adjust to. However, with some recordings of the robot’s movements as well as quick lessons from Dongmin, he was assured that if he just watched them and practiced at home they’d be ready in time. Sanha assured Dongmin that he would come back the next day and be totally ready.

                His walk home let him think more clearly about the task at hand, and Sanha let out a sigh. He loved Dongmin, he truly did, with his whole heart. However, he felt like lately he was a bit of a guinea pig to him. The testing had passed the robot a long time ago, he had been testing new contact cameras and other things, which had made Sanha frustrated considering Dongmin hadn’t been very considerate of his schedule. But, he understood. Dongmin was working his hardest to make his way into the robotics world, and living in South Korea made that struggle a lot harder. For Dongmin, his dream was to have a firm that covered both Japan and South Korea, something that would lead the world’s robotics creations.

                Sanha was proud to be friends with such a genius, but his heart did feel somewhat heavy when he knew that he was neither as smart nor as ambitious as his best friend. Still, Sanha was younger and did have some time ahead of him. He was content with being average, after all.

***

                “Move your leg to the right.” Dongmin cuffed his pants and stood back up, taking a step back and looking him over. “Hm…” He came closer and patted a cushion on his forehead, Sanha grimacing. He hated makeup, it was sticky and frustrating, but Dongmin said he needed to have a flawless complexion. His skin was already clear, he retorted, but Dongmin just hit him with the puff harder.

                Today was the final day before the competition, and Sanha had to run through what he had to do with the timeline of the event. Dongmin assured him that he’d mostly just be standing there, but he had to make sure he stayed alert and didn’t move around. Sanha knew that once the anxiety of standing up on a giant stage and pretending to be a robot kicked in, it would be difficult to not fidget around. Still, he’d try his best for Dongmin.

                Finally, the day had come for Sanha’s great robotic debut, and he put into a box in Dongmin’s backseat, some holes on the side allowing for ventilation. Dongmin had to do this so that when Sanha was carried in, he would be quickly recognized as a robot. It was more of a precaution than anything, Dongmin explained, and he had to keep his eyes closed the whole time. He was going to be lucky not to fall asleep, if he was honest.

                The ride was rather smooth compared to Dongmin’s usual driving, only a few bumps along the way that made the back of Sanha’s head hurt. He was lucky his head wouldn’t break since the venue was close enough to Dongmin’s lab. The car slowed after ten minutes, and Dongmin parked. He opened the side door and whispered for Sanha to stay still. He rolled his eyes before shutting them. The box was rolled into the building and taken back stage, and he could hear Dongmin’s footsteps next to it. It was already pretty nerve-wracking, but he knew that as long as Dongmin was there he could rely on him. Hopefully, anyway.

                “We’ll set it here, Mr. Lee.” It? Sanha wasn’t an “ _it_ ”.

                “That’s great, thank you.”

                “There’s about an hour until, so I would bring it on stage if you’re ready.”

                “Of course.” There was a shuffle that Sanha assumed to be footsteps, and a hand touched the door of the box. His eyes shut closed as the door was opened. “It’s me.” Sanha peeked to see it was indeed Dongmin, and he had the earpiece Sanha would be wearing in his hand. He put it in his ear, adjusting it as well as his hair. “You’re gonna be in a chair on stage so you won’t die from standing for so long, okay?” Dongmin patted his hair and smiled, pulling him out of the box. Sanha quickly adjusted to his robot way of walking, and made his way on the stage with him. The lights were bright and he had a feeling it was going to be hard not to sweat, but Dongmin had loaded him up with anti-perspirant before they had come here. “Alright, sit here and I’m going to shut you down for now.”

                It felt weird to sit there with nothing to do, but he stayed as still as he could. Time passed quickly while he sat like this, and soon he heard a crowd enter the venue and some people come on the stage, and he started getting more and more nervous as the time passed. He heard an announcer talk about today’s activities and the different inventions and such being presented. When he heard Dongmin’s name followed by a loud cheer he could feel the pressure he was under. Another few minutes passed before Dongmin’s name was called again. He felt a hand on his neck touch the fake power button and his eyes opened quickly, a few ‘ooh’s coming from the crowd. He stood up and bowed.

                “Hello, I am Sona 356. It is nice to meet you.” He came back up with a smile.

                “Sona 356 is a state-of-the-art robot, created entirely by me. I have written the software as well as built him. Sona can do anything from sort and organize files, to clean your house. He’s created to be a completely functional companion to any person, whether you are a wealthy businessman or a salaryman, you will find use in Sona’s abilities.” The crowd roared again, and Sanha was led back to his seat. Dongmin leaned in close to whisper as he pressed the power button twice. “Stay awake, you’re just in standby mode.”

                Sanha kept his gaze steadily on a spec in the back of the venue, and his calm expression was unwavering. Another half-hour passed and the other inventions were introduced, and then the announcer said that it was time for investors and voters to come and inspect the inventions. Sanha watched out of the side of his eye as people started coming on the stage, and Dongmin stepped next to Sanha and smiled. People came up and wandered around, taking a look at Sanha, asking Dongmin some questions, and Dongmin running through demos they had practiced together. It seemed like Sanha was getting the most interest out of all the inventions, and soon Dongmin’s voting box was filled.

                Before the voting had ended, a man walked up to Sanha and Dongmin. He was very well dressed, his hair styled and his posture upright. Sanha easily could tell that he was a businessman of sorts, and he knew that his vote would probably mean a lot. Because of this, he took the initiative. “Hello, I am Sona 356. It is nice to meet you.”

                The man looked Sanha up and down, and took a step closer. Dongmin smiled at him. “You really built this robot?”

                “Yes, sir.”

                “And you said that anyone would benefit from having this robot, correct?” The man’s eyes were very beautiful, Sanha thought to himself. Well, really, all of the man was, particularly his cutting cheekbones and sparkling eyes.

                “I want to buy him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i love socky so much and if u guys aren't watching i'm not a robot then WHAT ARE U DOING WITH UR LIFE????  
> this is v loosely based on the drama, really just taking the pretending to be a robot thing lol, it already takes a different path than the drama by far but yeah!! i hope u guys enjoy it bc im so excited to write more  
> hit me (up) [chanight](http://chanight.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

                “I want to buy him.”

Sanha sat in his chair with his eyes bolting between Dongmin and the mysterious man with nothing but anxiety. He knew that in reality it wasn’t about him, it was about Dongmin’s invention, but something made his heart race anyway. Dongmin’s reaction was way calmer than him, his arm extending with a business card. “Please contact me, I’d love to be in business with you.”

“Alright. I’ll be in touch.” The man looked over Sanha, or, rather, _Sona_ , once more. “Park Minhyuk.”

He walked off the stage and the other trailing voters made their way off as well, and the competition closed with the winner to be announced next week after the panel and votes had been counted. Sanha was glad that it was over, he could feel that sweat was just on the brink of pushing through the deodorant shield Dongmin had made. Dongmin held a hand out to take Sanha’s and loaded him back in the box, putting it in the car and driving a few blocks away to allowed Sanha to get out of the box and sit up front with Dongmin.

Sanha had to admit that he deserved a whole dinner for pretending to be a robot and trying his best not to visibly sweat in front of such a beautiful man, and he voiced his concern and was supported by Dongmin. He cheered, rattling off a list of the best places to eat until Dongmin interrupted him, saying he already had a reservation for a samgyeopsal place. Did Sanha remember how much he loved his best friend? Because it was quite a lot.

 They made their way into the room and sat down to order quickly, Sanha’s stomach rumbling. It was tiring to be a robot, and he had a lot more respect for the hunk of metal that Dongmin loved so much. Then again, he was sure that if it had turned into a human for a day it would feel the same way towards him. He dug into his rice and pouted as Dongmin sat on his phone for a bit, but he noticed and set it down before smiling.

“Good job today, Sanha. You really saved me back there.” He took a piece of pickled radish and waited until Sanha opened his mouth to place it on his tongue. “If you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have gotten the offer from him.”

“Mmph, who is he exactly?” Sanha chewed thoughtfully, remembering the beautiful man and being sure that he had to be important. “He looked important.”

“He’s a CEO of a sales platform.” Dongmin cut up some meat and cooked it, gesturing for Sanha to open his mouth and popping in another bite. “His dad built up the company from scratch, but he’s getting older so he stepped back as a sole owner and became a chairman instead. The kid’s like your age, maybe a year older.”

Hm, it made Sanha reconsider his content with being a regular person now. To know that he was only a year older and already leading a company pretty much on his own was making Sanha self-conscious. After all, he had done nothing but pretend to be a robot for the last week. Not exactly the best accomplishment, but considering what he was paid in he was proud nonetheless. Minhyuk made him curious, however, since he just seemed to fit the spoiled rich kid stereotype oh-so-well. He wanted to get to know him better – but there was no way that was possible. Not only did he have no way to keep in touch with someone like that, but Minhyuk also thought he was a robot. If he just sauntered into his office and asked him out, it would ruin Dongmin’s hard work and reputation. There was no way he could do that to his best friend that cut his meat into bite-sized pieces so lovingly.

***

                Sanha was sprawled across Dongmin’s bed, the late hours of the night dwindling by as he stared as his phone. Dongmin was at his laptop, his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he searched through his email rigorously. According to his other scientist friends, he was supposed to get an email today for the results, and Sanha could tell he was getting anxious. Since everyone else had gotten it and no winner had been announced, Sanha was staying hopeful. The The inhuman screech that Dongmin let out was enough to tell that Sanha was right.

                “Oh my _God_! Sanha! Sanha we did it!” Dongmin leaned back on his pillow, grinning wildly at his screen. “That’s five million! Holy sh-”

                “So how much does robot Sanha get out of that?” Dongmin laid a kiss on his forehead and happily screamed into his pillow. “First of all, that’s gross, and not a payment but a punishment.”

                He was happy for Dongmin nonetheless, and glad that his work as a robot had paid off for him. With that five million, he could definitely upgrade his lab as well as jumpstart more research into robotics. Knowing Dongmin, he would have remade a robot five times by the end of the year while singlehandedly supplying all of South Korea with their personal robots. As long as he got a lot of recognition for the hard work he had done, Sanha was content. Maybe now that he was a cool rich scientist, he could take him out for dinner more often.

                “Oh, look. Minhyuk emailed me, too.” Sanha’s interested peaked at the mention of Minhyuk, and scrambled from the corner of the bed to lean over his laptop screen. There was an email from ‘Park Minhyuk’ right there. “He said he wants the robot…next week. Hm, it should be good by then.”

                Dongmin had been working hard on repairing the robot after all and Sanha was sure that it was going to be fixed in time to give to Minhyuk. Having Minhyuk purchase the robot would give such great publicity for Dongmin and his brand, especially since he was such an important person. He could tell that Dongmin’s dreams were coming true and he was glad to see it all happen.

                So the next week he worked his hardest to finish fixing the part that needed fixing, and it looked like it was coming together nicely. And it was, until it came to the night before at two in the morning, where he got a frantic call from a crying Dongmin saying that it _wasn’t_ fixed and he’d need Sanha’s help again. Weighing out the options was stressing him a bit now, especially since he had no idea how he could stand in for a robot that was being sold for God’s sake, as well as that he couldn’t say no unless he wanted to ruin Dongmin’s dream. He came over to Dongmin’s lab once it was a more reasonable hour and stared at the robot, who was unresponsive when it came to speech, but able to do everything else.

                “He can’t speak. If he can’t speak, there’s no way I could sell him.” Dongmin was running his hands through his hair so much that Sanha could see scratch marks on his scalp and blood under his fingernails. It was worrying Sanha. “The only thing I could do was maybe stall a bit, and that’s where you’d come in. I could say he needed to do a calibration test to make sure that Sona would work with Minhyuk’s needs and then I’d be able to switch Sona in after I take you back.”

                Sanha frowned at robot’s dumb face, why was it creating so much trouble for Dongmin? He would curse it, but clearly it was already cursed. “Mm, okay. But how are you going to switch out _that thing_ for me? Won’t he be able to tell from…you know…” Sanha gestured at his face.

                “I’ll just say that it was a prototype and with this one it has better physics. The guy isn’t a robotics scientist, he won’t know the difference.” Maybe he was right, and hopefully for Dongmin’s sake he was. “I feel bad asking you to do this again, though, and on such short notice along with it being for a week instead of a day.”

                “I’ll do it, Dongmin, just get me the weird costume and I’ll do it.” Sanha got a bone-crushing hug from his best friend, promising that after this he would do literally anything for him, and he could count on him for sure. Sanha just rolled his eyes, wiggling out of the hug and sitting in a lab chair as Dongmin organized what Sanha would need for the next week.

                One of these things was a contact lens with a camera in it, which allowed Dongmin’s robot to feed Sanha information as well as Dongmin to monitor what was going on while he was over at Minhyuk’s. He would also have to wear an earpiece again, as well as a vest under his clothes that would act as metal to mimic the body that Sona had. There wasn’t much else that Sanha could hide for better contact, but Dongmin assured him that it would be enough. As long as he read off the prompter from the VR contacts, he would be able to get by. Unless, of course, there was some mishap with connection. They wouldn’t think about that yet, in hopes that it wouldn’t happen.

                Sanha came out of the bathroom dressed in the little uniform Dongmin had provided with a frown, feeling like a doll rather than a person or a robot. It was white slacks with a button up red dress shirt, the collar being high with ruffles, as well as a bit of ruffle on the sleeve. Sanha would really love to know where in the world a robot would dress like this, but he kept his mouth shut since Dongmin was clearly under a ton of stress. Dongmin touched up his hair with a straightener and just covered his dark circles quickly.

                “Before you go there, eat this protein bar. It’ll pass you over until you come back. Then I’ll treat you to all the food you want, my lovely angel Sanha.” Dongmin patted his cheek and Sanha grimaced. They were about an hour until they were to meet with Minhyuk, so they loaded into the car and made their way to the location Minhyuk shared. Once they pulled up, it was revealed as a giant house that was presumably Minhyuk’s estate. _Wow,_ Sanha thought to himself, _this robot is gonna be really lucky_. And for a week, he’d be the lucky robot. Was it wrong of him to be a bit excited?

                The gates of the house opened and allowed the car entrance, and Dongmin slowly drove in and parked next to one of Minhyuk’s many cars. “Alright, get into robot mood Sanha. He’s just inside the house so you need to be a robot if he’s looking out the window.” Sanha straightened his posture as Dongmin got out and opened the door for him, leading him to walk up to the front door and knocking. It took a minute before the door opened and revealed Minhyuk, in another finely tailored suit and his hair styled as nicely as last time. They were led in and sat at a couch, Sanha resisting the urge to look around knowing that he was under direct vision of Minhyuk.

                “You look nice, Sona.” Sanha took a moment and stared at him before he registered that Sona was indeed him.

                “Thank you, sir. You look nice as well.” Minhyuk blinked at him before looking at Dongmin. Oh my God, he had really just complimented him like a human.

                “Sona is a rather kind robot. You can feel free to set him in friend mode or a professional mode depending on your preference. If you’d like to be called hyung rather than your name or master, you can teach him that right now.”

                Minhyuk thought for a moment before looking at Sanha. “You’ll call me hyung, Sona.” Sanha nodded and the prompter read, ‘okay, hyung’ but he was too frozen in the moment to say anything. Minhyuk looked back at Dongmin. “So I’ll be keeping him from now on, and I can transfer the payment into your bank.”

“I’m afraid that first we’ll have to undergo a calibration test to be sure that there aren’t any issues.” Dongmin gestured at Sanha. “Because every customer will have unique needs, Sona needs to be calibrated accordingly. Then I will be able to pinpoint any adjustments I must make before I give him to you entirely.”

Sanha watched as Minhyuk frowned, clearly annoyed by the news. However, he seemed to accept it either way, nodding and standing up. Dongmin stood as well, and Sanha did too just in case he was supposed to. “Then, will you be picking Sona up?”

“Yes, at eight in the evening I’ll come to pick him up, and I’ll drop him off at eight in the morning. This will only be a week and then I’ll bring him to you permanently.”

                Dongmin and Minhyuk shook hands and Sanha watched carefully as Dongmin patted Sanha on the back and made his way out of the door. Inside he was screaming for him not to leave, but he waved along with Minhyuk as he made his way out. Once the door closed behind him, his earpiece told him ‘good luck’ and he felt a rush of nerves. Minhyuk turned to face him directly now.

                “Hello, Sona.”

                “Hi, hyung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> considering how i normally struggle to write like 1k words, i'm kinda shook i went over 2k this time lmao. are u guys enjoying this fic so far? i hope that u like it as much as i do!!   
> hit me (up) @[chanight](http://chanight.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably lots of mistakes, haven't slept or proofread lol

“Hello, Sona.”

“Hi, hyung.” Calling this pretty attractive man hyung on the first meeting was making Sanha feel unsettled, but he couldn’t exactly say he was complaining either.

“Today, I’m going to focus on giving you a rundown of who I am and what your job is here.” Sanha nodded as Minhyuk began walking, and he took careful robot steps behind him. “For starters, I’m Park Minhyuk. I’m one of the richest CEOs in all of South Korea, ranking top ten in the world.” He stopped and turned around to meet eyes with Sanha directly. “And, I hate my job.”

Sanha just blinked, trying his best to maintain a neutral expression, but he was on the verge of screaming at such a comment. How could he say he was so rich and in the same breath say he wasn’t satisfied? “Why, hyung?”

Minhyuk’s eyes darted over Sanha’s face just as he had at the competition. This, however, felt a little different. “That’s neither here nor there. Let’s continue.”

They began their walk through the house, numberless stairs and hallways making Sanha feel dizzy. Luckily for him, he found himself taking the elevator (yes, an elevator in a _house_ ) each time they made their way up and down. The vast number of rooms that went unused were countless, especially considering Minhyuk lived here alone. It made Sanha curious to know if he was possibly planning on getting married and having a family some time, and that’s why he had bought this house. Minhyuk just peaked his head into each room and with one look inside Sanha’s contact lens camera scanned the entirety of it, creating an intricate map of the house as he took new steps. That would prove useful, surely.

Really, the house was two stories, but along with a basement and it being so wide, it felt like the biggest house in the world to Sanha. Finally after what seemed like two hours – but was really an hour in total – they ended up back at the chair they started at. Minhyuk had chatted briefly about himself and his likes and dislikes as well as explaining that really it was his fathers company that he had inherited early while his father remained a chairman with the most stock. Sanha assumed that this wasn’t what Minhyuk wanted to do with his life but he was roped into it due to his father wanting family to inherited the business. It made sense, Sanha would want to keep the wealth inside the family too.

Finally, Sanha came to a room with an open door and he stopped dutifully as Minhyuk had stopped in front of it.

“This is your room.” Minhyuk gestured for Sanha to go inside, and he went in carefully, looking around and letting the camera scan it.

“But, I won’t be staying here.” Sanha was a bit confused as to why he had prepared a room for him if he was supposed to ‘charge’ at Dongmin’s. Minhyuk bit his lip and squinted at him.

“You’re so difficult. Here’s a learning moment, accept what I gift you.”

“Okay, hyung. Thank you for the gift.” Internally, Sanha rolled his eyes at the prompter but still read from it. Minhyuk lead him out of his room and down the hall to double doors, which with a quick enter to the keypad (1999), was opened. “That isn’t a very safe password, since it’s the year you were born.” Sanha had blurted it out without any prompting, and he saw an alert that was Dongmin reminding him _not_ to be himself.  It wasn’t his fault he had researched Minhyuk before coming here and knew that.

“Hm…perhaps you’re right. Make me a new password later, Sona.” Sanha nodded proudly, wishing Dongmin was there so he could childishly stick his tongue out for being a better robot. The room Minhyuk had taken him to was his room, and a king-sized bed along with other furniture and another television were glanced over quickly before Sanha turned back to look at him. “This is my room. You won’t need to go in here, since I’ll be with you around the house. I don’t let anyone in here, so you should feel lucky.”

“Should I buy a lottery ticket, hyung?” Minhyuk blinked at him before letting out a giggle. It was the first time he had seen him smile or laugh since he had met him, and Sanha was sure that his heart had stopped beating. His smile was just so bright, the way his eyes shined even brighter than they already did and his teeth showed cleanly. The distraction was quickly dismissed when Minhyuk led him out of the room and back downstairs. It was a quiet ride down and they finally got to the kitchen, where Minhyuk began pulling out ingredients from his refrigerator. Sanha watched curiously, wondering if he was going to make lunch or something, before Minhyuk pointed at the ingredients.

“Make me lunch.”

Sanha’s eyes widened a bit as he looked over it, his mind going blank. He had _no_ idea how to cook, unless ramyun counted, and he wasn’t so sure that this contact lens was going to help him with that. He saw Dongmin typing rather than the robot replying, and the prompter updated swiftly. “I apologize, I don’t have this feature implemented. It will be added after the testing sessions.”

He could tell that Minhyuk was rather unsatisfied with the reply, but he began unpackaging and heating up pans nonetheless. “I eat lunch every day at twelve in the afternoon promptly. I eat dinner at nine in the evening, and I grab breakfast on the way to work. I won’t often be here for lunch, but you should mark it down just in case.”

Sanha watched as the lens analyzed Minhyuk’s words and created a new memo marked ‘meals’, being saved in the ‘important’ folder. He nodded and Minhyuk continued cooking. Sanha was itching to explore the house on his own, and he was also anxious to try whatever delicious thing the CEO was cooking up. Clearly he was rather experienced since he was doing everything so effortlessly, and he found himself entranced by the chopping and stirring. After minutes had passed, he realized that Minhyuk had cleared his throat and he snapped back out of it and smiled at him.

The table was set by Sanha punctually after, and Minhyuk brought his food to the table and put it in his bowl, tasting it carefully and nodding before digging in. It looked mouthwatering, and Sanha could tell now that his protein bar had worn off ages ago. Despite being a young adult, he was definitely still growing and there was no way that was going to tide him over until so late. He watched the spoon lift from the bowl and go into Minhyuk’s mouth for a few times before Minhyuk looked over at him.

“Sit down.” He sat obediently. “I can’t believe I was about to ask about you, like you’re a human or something.”

_I am,_ Sanha thought to himself, _I’m Yoon Sanha, Lee Dongmin’s best friend, and I’m pretending to be a robot_. He could add that to the list of things he could never say. It was a growing shame to know that he could never meet Minhyuk again after this. Minhyuk began talking about his job for a bit and Sanha spaced out, knowing that the lens would do its job and he could just sit there to pretend to be present. He wondered if Dongmin was going to take him out to eat this time or if they’d eat in, and before he knew it he was thinking about menus from every place he had eaten. A feeling of drool pooling in his mouth from just the thought wasn’t something he thought about, but when his mouth rested open and Minhyuk gasped, he realized maybe that was a little strange for a robot. Minhyuk quickly called Dongmin, and the prompter read _damn it, Sanha_.

“Hello? Dongmin?” Minhyuk’s eyebrows were furrowed. “Is Sona okay? I thought I just saw saliva in his mouth. Is he malfunctioning?” Damn it Sanha was correct. He squirmed in his seat, cursing the delicious food that was spread in front of him and praying that Dongmin’s genius brain would serve him right. Of course, it did, and Minhyuk hung up after letting out a sigh of relief. “You worried me, my goodness. Let’s do the dishes and I’ll show you around the courtyard.”

Sanha stood up quickly and put on the rubber gloves provided by Minhyuk, standing next to him at the sink and washing dishes with him. All of the work his mother had put into him was paying off it seemed. Before he knew it, the time had passed quickly and they made their way outside with a coat (Sanha too, Minhyuk had put it on him out of habit and decided it looked nice so there was no reason to take it off at that point). The courtyard was rather large, a lot of gorgeous flowers and other plants growing neatly – it was clear that Minhyuk hires a gardener to take care of it. The walk around was nice despite it being a little chilly. It was probably due to Minhyuk walking so close to which caused Sanha to flush. He was hoping that within this week he could get over this crush, but knowing Sanha’s luck he’d be caught up on it forever. It was bringing him back to his high school days where he liked Dongmin for a month. He was glad he had gotten over that, he could see now that Dongmin had no time for anything but his robots.

Part of the garden had a few loose twigs lying on the ground, set to the side for the gardener to pick up and clean out later. Sanha had stepped over it carefully and wandered a bit ahead of Minhyuk, and turned to say something but found Minhyuk tripping and falling into his arms instead. It was something that seemed pretty quick to someone who watched from the outside, but in Sanha’s mind it was very slow, a slow-motion of Minhyuk tripping and his eyes widening as he fell into Sanha’s arms and caused him to stumble back. He was lucky to not fall completely, and he regained his balance with his arms wrapped around Minhyuk. They stayed like that for what felt like _hours_ until Minhyuk broke the silence.

“You’re warm.” Of course was warm, they were practically hugging. “Is it weird that my heart is beating faster?”

“That’s normal, you almost fell down. You could have hurt yourself.” Sanha was going to pass out if Minhyuk remained in his arms any longer. “It’s your adrenaline.”

“Huh.” Minhyuk stepped back but Sanha’s hand was still on his back, almost scared he’d trip again. They locked eyes for a few seconds before he stepped back again, clearing his throat and announcing that they should probably get back, and Sona was done for today anyway. Sanha nodded and followed him back into the house, trying his hardest not to wiggle nervously as he waited for Dongmin to come back. He hoped that this awkward silence wouldn’t continue for the week, and he found himself staring at the wall then at the television and back and back and back until Dongmin finally knocked on the door and Minhyuk jumped up to let him in. He shook hands and talked for a brief moment before coming to Sanha and smiling at him. Sanha stood up and turned to bow at Minhyuk before they left, and they walked out and made their way to the car carefully, Sanha waiting until they had completely left the property to sigh loudly.

***

                “I know you’re going to tell me everything but let me remind you I had a perfect first-person point of view the whole time.” Dongmin set the meat he had cooked in front of Sanha and sat down, watching him dig in. “Good job catching him, it was a bit slower than Sona’s reflexes but I guess it’ll do.”

                “God, this is so good,” Sanha stopped for a moment and sighed louder than before. “What am I going to do, Dongmin? I’m totally in love with him.”

                “Absolutely nothing, and you won’t see him again after either.” Damn, he was harsher than Sanha had expected. He sat down and took some bites as well, checking his emails and smiling. “But, it’s okay. You’ll meet someone else eventually. Probably when you get a stable job or seem serious about your future, sunshine.”

                “If you weren’t feeding me I would have run away already.”

***

                Minhyuk was sure he wasn’t crazy considering the amount of time he had spent in university and the training he had gone through that clearly prevented handing this giant CEO job off to someone crazy, but it seemed like he was considering how hard his heart was beating in reaction to a _robot_. He stared at himself in the mirror for a good five minutes before he picked up his phone and pressed call.

                “Myungjun? I may have a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS!!!!!!! i'm sorry this update is late :( i started school back up and my birthday is tomorrow hehe so i've been busy~ i'm also seeing astro on sunday! it's gonna be weird to see them again after asc and kcon ;-; i miss them though so i'm excited! i have photo op too so cant wait to get that printed on a blanket or pillow or something LOL  
> hit me (up) [chanight](http://chanight.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

                “Myungjun? I may have a problem.” The line on the other line was silent for a bit before his best friend let out a huge sigh, and a ruffle indicated he laid down where ever he was.

                “Go on, my little egg.”

                “I…alright. Bear with me because I think it’s kind of a silly thing…” Minhyuk rubbed his temples and stared out his window, his eyes reminding him of the robot that was there just a few minutes prior. “I have a uh…a _robot_ that I’m watching?”

                “A robot? Gosh, I know that we’re in the era of technology and all but don’t tell me you got a robot for…you know…”

                “ _Myungjun_.”

                “Fine, sorry, go ahead.”

                “I think that uh, I’m feeling more human emotions towards the robot. Which is weird of course since he’s a machine and all.” Minhyuk paused and bit his lip nervously. He knew that Myungjun was going to call him crazy, but he also knew that of all the people it had to be him that he informed.

                “So you’re in love with a robot? So what? I’m in love with a robot too, his name is Jinwoo.” Minhyuk sighed.

***

                Sanha stared at himself in the mirror for a few minutes before slapping his cheeks. He had to get over his crush quickly, and he knew that it was dangerous since he would readily jump at the chance of revealing himself just so he could be with Minhyuk at all. Then again, he probably didn’t have much of a chance since he’d readily be labeled as a creep for pretending to be a robot for some crazy rich CEO. He glanced back to see Dongmin packing his bag and computers and sighed.

                Making his way back to the house made him nervous. He knew that Minhyuk was a great guy so far and hadn’t made him do anything weird, but what if he was secretly a pervert? Didn’t a lot of super important people end up like that? Still, he would surely kiss Minhyuk if he asked him to, but maybe doing more was –

                His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden parking of the car and he looked over at Dongmin with a startled expression. He was glad his genius friend couldn’t read minds. They made their way to the steps and knocked, Sanha growing more nervous as the seconds passed. Minhyuk opened the door so aggressively, his hair wild and his shirt only half-buttoned. Sanha was sure that his eyes were spinning.

                “Is it already eight? Damn it. Come in, Sona. I don’t have time to talk.” And with that, Minhyuk grabbed his hand and pulled him inside before closing the door and walking towards his room. Sanha followed him quickly and a message popped up from Dongmin, reading a clear “ _wtf_ ”.  “I’m late for work and you’re going to be coming with me.”

                Minhyuk finished buttoning up and frowned at Sanha’s attire. There was no way this was going to do for a multi-billion dollar company. Minhyuk led him to his room and gestured at the closet. “Do you want me to change?”

                “Yes, go ahead.” Sanha blinked a few times and looked around. He wanted him to change in front of him? Surely the pervert idea was right then. “Do you not know how to change your clothes alone?” Minhyuk took a step closer and Sanha moved back quickly, a blush rising that he was thankful the makeup covered.

                “I think it’s better if I do it without you looking.”

                “What? You’re a robot and you’re conscious of me seeing you naked?”

                “Don’t be inappropriate, hyung!” Minhyuk furrowed his eyebrows but left the room either way. Sanha sat on the bed and felt his heart race. He changed into the dress pants and button up shirt quickly and came out. He peeked his head out of the door and saw Minhyuk leaning against a wall and looking at his phone. He glanced up and paused for a moment, making prolonged eye contact before clearing his throat and walking down the hallway towards the door.

                Their ride to the building was rather long, a good fifteen minutes before they would arrive. Sanha sat quietly and resisted the urge to sing along to a song that was on the radio, Minhyuk not doing much other than staring ahead. It was an awkward ride but he understood why. They finally pulled up to the building and Minhyuk was let in without showing ID. Sanha had never seen this building before and now that he saw how tall it was he could understand just how important it was. There always seemed to be that correlation between building height after all.

                Minhyuk parked in his spot and got out to open the door for Sanha, holding out his hand and waiting for Sanha to take it. Sanha hesitated but held on tight as he led up to the elevator and out to his office. The people he passed were all staring at him in great confusion, and Sanha just smiled and waved at everyone he passed. Finally they reached his office and he found a tiny man leaning against his door. He looked at Minhyuk who now had furrowed eyebrows and a confused expression.

                “Myungjun? What are you doing here?”

                “Sweet pea!” ‘Myungjun’ ran up to Minhyuk and gave him a tight hug before realizing that Sanha’s hand was holding onto Minhyuk’s. “Oh boy, is this your _special_ robot, Hyukkie?”

                “Please move out of the way, I’m trying to get to my office.”

                “Hi, what’s your name? I’m Kim Myungjun and I’m Minhyuk’s favorite person.” Sanha couldn’t help but giggle at the man before him. Clearly Minhyuk was growing impatient but he nodded.

                “I’m Sona, I’m hyung’s robot.”

                “HYUNG? Hyuk, you dirty man-” Minhyuk pushed past him and closed the office behind them, sighing and letting go of Sanha’s hand.

                “Who’s that, hyung?” Sanha looked at him curiously and Minhyuk made his way to his desk to set his bag down and get settled in.

                “That’s Myungjun. He’s an old friend of mine, but my parents don’t like him.” Sanha nodded and waited to be told to sat down, which Minhyuk picked up on and gestured at the couch. The office he had was rather big, a giant desk against the wall and a table and couch set in the center. Lots of art pieces littered the wall, as well as still shots of dancers and plants across the room. Did Minhyuk like to dance? He prompted Sona to search while he scanned the room and an article about Minhyuk’s dancing passion popped up promptly. He wasn’t particularly surprised since Minhyuk seemed to be build like a dancer and he was rather graceful when he walked. Except for of course, when he fell straight into Sanha’s arms.

                He would ask about the dancing later, he decided, and for now he would wait quietly until he was told to do something. Despite Dongmin telling him not to tell Sona to do anything because he was going to grab breakfast, he still asked him to pull up a video game and played it for a while until he noticed Minhyuk staring at him as he moved his head across the ceiling. He stopped and smiled at him.

                “Do you like to dance, hyung?” Minhyuk looked surprised at the question but nodded. “Why don’t you become a dancer?”

                “Because my father wants me to take this over.” He sighed and closed his laptop, standing up with his hands shoved into his pockets. “I’m trying to get myself kicked out but he just won’t fall for it. I can’t think of a good way-” He stopped suddenly, turning to Sanha with a sharp gaze. He could have swore his heart stopped. “You. Come with me.” Sanha stood as Minhyuk took his hand for the second time that day and lead him out of the room.

***

                Sanha was very sure that he wasn’t authorized to be in this part of the firm, the amount of security necessary to get here being too many to count. Still, Minhyuk led him to the office where quite a few old men were sitting at a couch and cleared his throat loudly. One of the men looked up and the rest followed suit. His hand squeezed Minhyuk’s tighter.

                “Son.” The man gestured for him to sit next to him but Minhyuk didn’t budge. Sona scanned the room quickly, identifying the man before him as the current top chairman and Minhyuk’s father. He had created the business and had been CEO since its creation in 1991 and had just this year passed it over to Minhyuk. He was known for being stern and scary unless he was with his son, who he had a soft spot for. The other men were also chairmen, some also being there since creation and some more recently hired. Either way, they had all been there a lot longer than Minhyuk and clearly had a distaste for him. Minhyuk seemed to return it.

                “This is Sona.” Minhyuk turned to Sanha and he blinked.

                “Hello, I am Sona 356. It is nice to meet you.” Sanha bowed a full ninety-degrees at the men, but Minhyuk grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him up suddenly.

                “You don’t have to bow at them.” Sanha nodded awkwardly. He was hoping he wouldn’t be brought into this family feud. “Sona is going to be helping me around the business.” This sure was news to Sanha, and surely to the other chairmen as well considering they all looked very ready to protest. “And you can’t tell me no because I’m the CEO.” Sanha was pretty sure that wasn’t how it worked at all, but he also wasn’t particularly interested in the politics of it.

                “I’m glad to see you taking action in the business finally, I’m proud of you, son.” Minhyuk huffed and tugged at Sanha’s hand before leading him out completely. Before he could ask any more questions, he took Sanha back to his office and gave him a stack of papers. “Here, you’re in charge of the stocks now.”

                Sanha was very sure he would screw up any job that he was given, but something involving stocks and bonds was a surefire way to completely sink a ship. He shook his head at the request, but he could see in Minhyuk’s eyes that there was no purpose in protesting. He knew now that he was going to be used to completely ruin the company, and that was making him jittery. The numbers on the page just blurred together, and he didn’t even _know_ what he was supposed to be doing. He just started adding things together and circling things without knowing just to look busy, and maybe he could slip it into the trash before anyone would take it. However, with his luck an assistant came in to take the files and thanked Minhyuk.

                He was sure that if he listened to Dongmin’s rants about the importance of budgeting and buying stock he would have understood what to do, but it seemed like him _not_ knowing was more valuable to Minhyuk since he smiled at him and patted his back. “Good work, Sona.”

                “I don’t know how to do stocks, hyung.”

                “That’s why it was good work.”

                A knock at the door revealed Myungjun on the other side, and another small man who was just slightly taller behind him. Sanha saw Minhyuk tense up but forced a smile. The smaller man looked a lot shyer than Myungjun did, a convenience store uniform visible once they stepped in. The man was introduced as Jinwoo and was a close friend to Myungjun. A scan revealed he was a worker at a convenience store despite having gone to Seoul University. A further scan showed that he had dropped out in his last year to take care of his sick father, and was now without a degree and a father. It was strange to have so much of this man’s life revealed through Sona.

                “Myungjun, I thought I told you to leave.”

                “Oh, I just was going to. Your dad saw me and had security kick me out but I snuck back in through a backdoor.” He did a finger heart and Minhyuk waved it away. “I thought since you were with your boyfriend, Jinwoo should meet him.”

                “He’s not my boyfriend.”

                “Hello, I am Sona 356. It is nice to meet you.” Jinwoo seemed a bit skeptical and took a few steps closer to Sanha, squinting his eyes to observe him. Sanha felt nervous and Myungjun and Minhyuk fell into conversation together. Jinwoo pressed two fingers to Sanha’s wrist but he pulled back quickly after Jinwoo’s eyes widened a bit.

                “Can robots have pulses?”

                “Of course they can, it’s just a pulsating part. Don’t touch him, please.”

                “Yeah, Jinnie, only Hyuk can touch him.” Myungjun winked and narrowly avoided a slap on the arm. “Anyway, I wanted to ask what you were going to do about the meeting with the worldwide representatives in two days.” Minhyuk frowned. “After all, Moon Bin is going to be back in town then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOHOOOOOOOOO that means all members of Astro will be important characters in this fic~! i dont remember the last time that happened, lol  
> how are u liking mj and jinjin in this fic? i love writing them when normally i suck at it lol  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com) (changed my url!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just thought i'd add some visuals that Astro so gracefully provided to us  
> so, enjoy, it's ceo minhyuk and robo sanha

                “After all, Moon Bin is going to be back in town then.”

                Judging by the expression on Minhyuk’s face and how quickly he dismissed Myungjun and Jinwoo, this was _not_ good news. According to Sona, Moon Bin was a chairman from another branch in Tokyo, and he hadn’t been in Seoul in over five years. According to his research, Bin and Minhyuk used to be together while Minhyuk was still a low-level employee. Before he had moved, they had a messy breakup and he left with loose ties. There wasn’t much else to it online, so he knew he’d have to ask Minhyuk personally. Sanha was curious what kind of person Bin must be, if they used to date each other for so long. Minhyuk seemed picky about his type.

After Myungjun and Jinwoo had left, they made their way back to Minhyuk’s car to go get lunch. Or rather, for Minhyuk to go get lunch and for Sanha to suffer at how good it looked. “Who is Moon Bin?”

“He’s an old boyfriend of mine.”

“Boyfriend? You dated him, hyung?” Minhyuk nodded. “Does that mean you loved him?”

“Loved? Huh…” Sanha wondered if that was a weird question to ask, and according to the prompter from Dongmin it was definitely weird and for sure out of line. Still, he was curious. “I don’t know. Since you’re a robot, you wouldn’t understand, but, sometimes we think we love someone but really we don’t. People don’t realize that until they stop pretending they are.”

“So…you pretended to love him?”

“That’s enough, we’ve arrived now.”

They went to a rather shady place considering how rich Minhyuk was, but he told Sanha to make a note that this was the best place to eat in the entirety of Seoul. Surely this meant that Dongmin would have to take him there to eat later today. They walked in and were greeted by an old woman that seemed to recognize Minhyuk…but then Sanha realized he recognized _her_. This was where he came to eat all the time as a student.

                He was sure by the number of times he had ordered ramyun here that the woman would recognize him, so he quickly turned around to cover his face with a menu. Minhyuk looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, and they were seated but Sanha kept the menu covering his face. Minhyuk blinked again.

                “What are you doing?”

                “I’m looking at the menu, hyung.”

                “You can’t even eat.” Minhyuk took the menu from him and looked for what he was going to choose, and to Sanha’s surprise it was the exact ramyun he had eaten for all of his sophomore year. He knew how mouthwatering it was and since he hadn’t eaten it in a while he also knew it would look even better to him. He waited patiently as the lady came back, and unfortunately she came before Sanha could cover his face again. She took the menu and then gasped as they made eye contact. Minhyuk glanced between them and Sanha could do nothing but plead with his eyes for her not to say anything. Just as she went to open her mouth, she was called back and had to leave them.

Minhyuk and Sanha made eye contact and he smiled, pointing at an item on the menu. According to Sona’s scan, it was the best item using reviews he had found online.

***

               

                There was an air of stress when Minhyuk and Sanha had arrived back at Minhyuk’s house. Sanha could tell that Minhyuk was under a lot of stress, especially since his attempts to get his father angry at him hadn’t gone through yet. Sanha waited patiently as Minhyuk paced around the room, his phone lighting up with a call and watching as Minhyuk dove for it.

                “Hello?” Minhyuk sat next to Sanha and rubbed his chin. “Right. The stocks. Oh, were they not filed correctly? Unfortunate. I have a lot to do today, I’m going to hang up first.” Minhyuk let out a big sigh and turned to Sanha with a smile. “Good job. My father is pretty angry at me now. Before I know it, my position will be taken back.” Sanha wasn’t so sure this was the solution, but he also knew he didn’t have much of a place to say anything about it. All he had to do was fill this robot position and then he wouldn’t have to deal with this again.

                Before he could say anything more, his doorbell rang and it caused Sanha to jump. Minhyuk patted Sanha’s shoulder and made his way to the door, peeking out the peep-hole and gasping. Sanha looked at him curiously, Minhyuk’s hand hovering over the doorknob until the bell rang again. “Do you want me to open it, hyung?”

                “No.” He said this harshly and went to open it himself. On the other side stood Moon Bin, which Sanha could only tell because of Sona’s scan. Moon Bin was a high-ranked official in the Tokyo branch, and was back in town for the worldwide representatives meeting. He had just landed an hour ago and had come to Minhyuk’s house firstly. The expression on his face read as excited and nervous, while Minhyuk’s was just anxiety.

                “Hi, Minhyuk. It’s been a while.”

***

                Sanha didn’t like Moon Bin. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him honestly, but he was getting more jealous than he was really allowed to watching him interact with Minhyuk. Minhyuk was tense and Bin was way more open with him, sitting close and smiling a lot and making Sanha more frustrated as the minutes passed.

                “I was worried for you when I left.” Sona identified the tone Bin was using as ‘pitiful’. Sanha hated that. “You know, I told you to call me but you never did.”

                “Maybe because I don’t want to see you anymore.”

                “Ah, you haven’t changed at all Minhyuk…” Bin paused to finally acknowledge that Sanha was in the room, and he sat up straight. “Who’s that?”

                “Hello, I am Sona 356. It is nice to meet you.” For some reason, Sanha said it a lot louder than he usually did. Maybe it was just his ego talking, but he did notice Minhyuk seemed to relax a bit as he moved to sit next to him. “You are Moon Bin, hyung’s ex-boyfriend.” Woops, maybe not the right thing to say.

                “Is this the robot that Myungjun was telling me about?” Bin smiled and put a hand out for Sanha to shake, but Sanha just stared at it before looking back up to make eye contact. Sanha continued giving him a blank look. If anything, he was staying true to his robot act. “He looks so realistic that I can see why Jinwoo said he was skeptical.”

                Jinwoo did? Sanha would really have to keep an eye on him, this was the second time he had mentioned being skeptical of him. Minhyuk cleared his throat and quickly stood up. “Well, you saw me, and now you can leave. I’ll see you later anyway.” Bin didn’t have much of a choice but to stand up and nod as well, and he dismissed himself after Minhyuk rejected his hug and Sanha his handshake. ‘ _Why was he so hot?_ ’ God, of course Dongmin would have to comment on that, but Sanha did have to admit he wasn’t super hard on the eyes other than the fact that everything about him made Sanha frustrated. Maybe it was the fact that he was attractive, and that he knew he couldn’t compete with him. If that was Minhyuk’s type, Sanha was at a loss.

                Once Bin had left, Sanha had become a lot more aware of the time, which was now approaching four in the afternoon. That left only four more hours for them to be together for the day and having the second day coming to a close made Sanha nervous.

                “Sona?” Sanha broke out of his thoughts and looked over at him with wide eyes. “You can get some cleaning done while I’m finishing some work.”

                _Cleaning?_ Sanha understood that he was a robot and all, but the idea of having to clean was already making him want to call Dongmin and go home. Sanha was never the best at cleanliness, and he was fighting back a frown. “Cleaning? Cleaning what?”

                “You can sweep and dust. Don’t you know how to do that?”

                Sanha thought carefully about his options, and despite the prompter from both Dongmin and Sona reading yes, he decided to ignore them. “My battery is running low. If I start cleaning now, I’ll have to shut down in two hours.”

                He was sure that it sounded like utter garbage, but it seemed like Minhyuk agreed because his bottom lip pouted ever-so-slightly. “So…if I make you clean…you have to leave at six?”

                “Yes hyung. But if you put me on Low Power mode, I can stay until eight.” Sanha gave him his signature bright smile, and he could tell by Sona that it made Minhyuk’s heart skip a beat. He nodded and instead gestured for Sanha to come upstairs to his workroom with him. Finally he could use his charm for good.

***

                Though he had already picked up on this, Sanha realized that Minhyuk really _was_ famous. The whole time he was sitting on the couch Minhyuk was taking phone call after phone call. Sanha was getting antsy from sitting for so long, and after Minhyuk finished his last call he gave a glance to Sanha. He got up without being prompted and waited until Minhyuk had sat down at his desk to come and stand next to him, looking over his computer screen and blinking.

                He watched as Minhyuk was assigning assistants to tasks he was supposed to deal with, things that they were all very unqualified for. He understood that Minhyuk had a difficult relationship with his father but it made him wonder how much of it came from actually having a conversation about wanting to be a dancer instead. Minhyuk didn’t look like much of a conversationalist.

                “Do you still dance?” Breaking the silence startled Minhyuk.

                “Huh? Oh. I dance sometimes I guess. I don’t have much time for it nowadays.”

                “You have time to test a robot though.”

                Minhyuk swiveled back in his chair. “For a robot, you have a smart mouth.”

                “I want to see you dance, hyung.” He scoffed and looked back at his screen. Still, Sanha could tell that he just needed an extra push before he would show him a video or something. “Are you not good?”

                “Of _course_ I’m good! Just wait!” Minhyuk stood up suddenly and pushed his chair back. Moving to the center of the room, he cleared his throat. “Play Gashina by Sunmi.”

                ‘Damn it’ was the first thing that popped into Sanha’s mind, and when the music started playing from his computer (how many hi-tech items did Minhyuk hold?) Minhyuk’s entire demeaner changed. His expression was sharper now and his body moved so fluidly that Sanha felt his heart racing under his metal vest. The way he moved was so incredible and Sanha couldn’t help but feel his jaw drop before he could catch it.

                The music faded out and Minhyuk finished his dance with a wink out of what seemed like habit, and Sanha got a message from Sona saying that his heart rate was running on dangerous. “Are you…drooling?”

                “Realism.” Sanha managed to hack out before turning his head away from Minhyuk and holding back a scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cried at the photos lmao. also, i wrote this like a week in advance, so bless that lol  
> hit me (up) @[chanight](http://chanight.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

                “Realism.” Sanha managed to hack out before turning his head away from Minhyuk and holding back a scream. Minhyuk seemed like he suspected something, and he took a few steps closer until Sanha had pressed himself against the window behind him, awkwardly only allowing a foot between them. Right as Minhyuk’s hand reached out to touch Sanha’s face, a screech came from the doorway and made them turn suddenly, Sanha whacking his head against Minhyuk’s and having to bite down on his lip to avoid reacting to the pain.

                “ _Myungjun_.”

***

                He swore that he was going to get bruises from the amount of times Dongmin hit the back of his head (equivalent to how many stupid things he said apparently). He was angry that there was so much he had to clear up or add to his current robot that he refused to talk to Sanha for the entire ride home, and when they walked into his house he handed him a printed set of rules and scolded him for being so careless. Sanha got it, maybe he was a bit careless when he was around Minhyuk, but he couldn’t help it when Minhyuk made his heart beat so fast. He didn’t say that to Dongmin, however, just in case he would hit him again.

                Sanha decided to go home for that night instead of staying at Dongmin’s (partially because Dongmin was angry and also because he had food in the fridge to clean out).  It was strange to actually be alone after a few days of being with Dongmin or Minhyuk constantly, but he did think it was nice to wrap himself in a blanket and lay on the couch, flipping through television channels mindlessly. Being around Minhyuk was tiring as hell. It wasn’t in a bad way necessarily, but in a way that he had to be constantly vigilant about coming off as a human. He was lucky that Minhyuk seemed to be so stupid when it came to recognizing things, or rather that he blindly trusted Dongmin’s skills so much. He supposed that if you weren’t the robotics scientist or best friend of a robotics scientist, it would be easy to trust someone thoughtlessly.

                He didn’t remember when he had fallen asleep, but he woke up to his chip bag spilled across the  carpet and his cellphone ringing next to his ear. It was two in the morning according to the television, and Dongmin was calling him now. He didn’t call him this late so it worried Sanha, and he picked up while sitting properly and trying to gather the fallen chips.

                “Hello?”

                “Finally you answered. You don’t have to go in today, Minhyuk emailed me and said he’d be too busy.” Was it wrong that his stomach sank slightly? He rubbed his neck while Dongmin went on about how he would be working on fixing the robot so he’d have a day off. Sanha wasn’t sure if he wanted a day off, but he sleepily agreed and turned his phone off.

***

                He didn’t remember days off being this boring. Maybe it was because he had a lot of chores to catch up with, he had to call his mom, and look at job listings for when he was done with this robot thing, but Sanha found himself wanting to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling all day. It was still an early eleven in the morning when he let out a sigh and sat on his couch, turning on the TV and channel surfing. “…Minhyuk will be appearing…”

                Minhyuk? Sanha quickly turned back to the news channel and just as he had suspected, a photo of Minhyuk was in the corner of the screen. Oh, he looked good. The news casters began talking about how tomorrow was a big event for the company Minhyuk owned. If Sanha remembered right, it was going to be a global meeting that his ex-boyfriend Moon Bin was going to attend. Sanha wasn’t sure, but he assumed that was why it was a bad thing for Minhyuk. When the newswoman brought up Bin’s name, Sanha quickly changed the channel and grimaced.

***

                “Did you just sneeze?”

                “I didn’t-” _Achoo_. “…sneeze.”

                “Sanha, you can’t be sick. I’m begging you. If you’re sick, I’m screwed.” Dongmin was biting his lip so furiously that Sanha wished he could tell his body not to get sick. “Damn it. I need to figure out a way to excuse this.”

                “I’m sorry. I think when I took the trash out yesterday I didn’t wear a jacket.”

                Dongmin kept quiet on the way to the house again and Sanha could cut the tension with a knife. “Just don’t make it obvious. If you need to sneeze or something, swallow it.” A bit harsh in Sanha’s opinion, but he walked up to the door either way. Minhyuk opened it and they made prolonged eye contact before pulling him into a hug that left Sanha’s heart running at a million miles per hour. He swore that it took only a few seconds for him to be left paralyzed. He was pulled into the house and told to go change, but Sanha found himself beginning to feel dizzy as he made his way up the stairs and down the hall. _Are you dizzy?_ Sanha nodded, and he was already stressed enough that the idea of changing clothes seemed almost impossible. He knew he’d regret this later, but he got up and peaked his head out the door.

                “Hyung?”

                “Do you need help, Sona?” Minhyuk poked around the hallway and came over, Sanha trying his hardest not to flush. “With changing...?”

                “It’s er…my battery can’t take that kind of movement very well yet. It wasn’t prepared for that.” More battery problems was going to equal more smacks to the back of the head. “Please help me, hyung.”

                Minhyuk looked hesitant but chose the outfit carefully and helped Sanha behind a curtain he hung up quickly. Sanha felt like this was becoming a more intimate relationship than he had planned for when he took the robot job. He managed to get the clothes on when Minhyuk buttoned the shirt, but he couldn’t help but keep his eyes stuck on Minhyuk’s, even when his face was focused on the buttons. When he looked back up, he looked curious. As his mouth opened, Sanha turned around and sneezed, something so high-pitched and shrill that he could tell with his back to him that Minhyuk was shocked. Sanha was very ready to panic, and with the hand on his back suddenly he was sure that Minhyuk was too. He turned back around slowly and blinked a few times.

                “This is a new feature. You have to take care of me until I’m not sick anymore.”

                “A feature...? That sounds more inconvenient than entertaining. Why would I want to take care of you?”

                “Don’t you like me, hyung?” _Bah-dum_. Even though Sanha couldn’t hear it, he could almost _see_ Minhyuk’s heart do a flip. He took his hand and sat him on the bed before frowing.

                “I’m very busy today, I have a meeting I need to attend. If you’re sick that means you can’t go. Should I hire a babysitter?”

                A whine slipped out of Sanha’s mouth, something that was usually kept for Dongmin, and he tugged at a corner of Minhyuk’s shirt. “You’re just going to leave me? Maybe Mr. Park could take care of the business for today?” Despite saying it in just a desperate hope for him not to leave him, but he also said it in a slight suggestion of letting his dad take over for a little bit. As much as Minhyuk wanted to destroy what his father had built, Sanha knew that he had a very closeminded view on what the outcome would be. Although Dongmin had drilled in him not to get attached, he couldn’t help but wish for the best for Minhyuk and to ask for him to mature a bit.

                “You’re a troublemaker, Sona.”

***

                Sanha was glad to be wrapped in a blanket on his new bed, Minhyuk sitting next to him and petting his head as he read through some emails he had gotten. There was nothing as warm as Minhyuk’s hand apparently, and as he sniffled away Minhyuk would move his attention to him and smile at him with something so sincere that he couldn’t help his heart flutter. _I’m going to kill you, Yoon Sanha_. Despite knowing this, he still comfortable shuffled closer to Minhyuk and smiled at him.

                Minhyuk’s phone lit up with a call, the name _Moon Bin_ making Sanha grimace under the blanket. Minhyuk mindlessly swiped on end call before the ringtone could even begin. Sanha inched closer again, letting out another sniff to draw attention to him. When they made eye contact, he smiled.

                “Can you talk about Moon Bin more?”

                “Why?” He was still hesitant about it. Sanha assumed that maybe he really did have a terrible breakup, but it was hard to believe that when Bin was so kind to him. “I used to date him a long time ago. We were going to get engaged, but he got relocated.”

                “But you said you didn’t love him, hyung. Why would you get engaged?”

                “Maybe I did love him, a little.” His voice came out small. “It doesn’t matter anymore, we aren’t together.”

                “If Bin asked you to marry him now, would you do it?” Sanha wasn’t sure why this had come out of his mouth, but he assumed it was because he hated the idea of Bin swooping in since he was back to take Minhyuk’s heart again.

                “I…I don’t know.” His phone rang again, his father instead being on the caller ID. Minhyuk got off the bed to go take it, and Sanha was left alone in the room. Once Minhyuk had walked out, he allowed himself to cough and sneeze a few times. Minhyuk’s answer had scared him. Sanha didn’t want to be around when Bin could come and try to win him back, but he also knew that his opinion didn’t matter either. Still, it worried him as he peeked at Minhyuk’s email that was littered with messages from Bin. He didn’t read them so he couldn’t ensure that they _were_ to win Minhyuk back, but it still made him anxiously bite his lip at the idea.

                Minhyuk entered the room again and frowned, grabbing his laptop and closing it. “I have to go, my father refuses to start the event until I get there.” Sanha was ready to protest, but Minhyuk handed him a phone and closed his hand around it. “If you need me for anything, just call me. For now, battery saving mode Sona 356.”

                As much as he wanted to protest, Sanha took on a dull look and nodded, sitting up in the bed and watching as Minhyuk gathered his keys and jacket and made his way out of the house. Sanha laid back and watched as Dongmin popped up as a video chat.

                “You are really digging a hole for me.”

                “I know, I’m sorry Minnie.” Sanha rubbed his face and glanced over at the phone.

                “How are you feeling though?”

                “Really bad actually…I don’t know if I can last until he comes back or even until eight.” Sanha meant it too. Not only was he feeling a fever begin, he knew that he was going to get hungrier as the minutes passed and he couldn’t skip a meal while he was sick. It wasn’t a health-conscious thing, it was more of a avoiding-passing-out thing.

                “Even if I want to kill you, I’m worried. If you feel bad, don’t hesitate to say something.” The video chat went out, and Sanha got comfortable as he waited for Minhyuk to come back.

                He didn’t expect the meeting or event to take so long and watching the minutes pass was making him woozier. In spite of knowing that Dongmin wouldn’t be happy for him to do this, he still sent Minhyuk a text after an hour and found himself dozily falling out of consciousness until the lights had gone and it had all fallen black.

***

                “You need to be careful with him! What if his battery had burst and leaked or something? Wouldn’t he have been ruined?” Hearing Minhyuk’s yelling was very off-putting, and Sanha decided to keep his eyes shut for now.

                “Sona wouldn’t have died, Mr. Park. It’s not hard to replace a battery and clean it out.”

                “Shouldn’t you be monitoring him!?” Well, he was, Sanha thought to himself. He opened an eye and glanced around, seeing that he was on the couch in the opening room with Dongmin standing a few feet away and Minhyuk directly next to him. “I don’t know what kind of business you run Mr. Lee, but I had to leave a very important event in fear that something would happen to Sona. Maybe you should review your work to make sure this is the right career for you. You are dismissed.” Minhyuk left with a turn of his heel, leaving Dongmin and Sanha alone together. He was lucky that he couldn’t talk while he was there, and he slinked out of the room and into the car carefully.

                He was so tired of the silent car rides, and Sanha couldn’t help but clear his throat to ask for some conversation. He regretted that quickly when Dongmin went off on him, saying that if he kept this up then not only would his cover be blown but he would be screwed for the rest of his career. Sanha tried to stop himself from crying, but Dongmin pulled the car to the side of the road and rubbed his temples as Sanha cried in the passenger’s seat, feeling just so tired of letting his best friend down. As hard as he was trying, it felt like it wasn’t going to be enough. Being content with being an office worker was proving more and more true as he found himself failing at a lot of things he expected to be simple.

                “I’m sorry hyung. I know I’m not doing very well, I’m really trying not to be so obvious but it’s really hard in front of Minhyuk.”

                Dongmin sighed again before frowning at him. “If it’s this hard, then I need to draw more boundaries for him. No touching, and you can go home earlier in the day instead.” Despite knowing that was best, he found himself feeling more upset than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okKKKKKKKKK just a little tiny bit of angst bc like. u know, this story isn't gonna progress without it LOL. also, next chap is gonna be exciting :3c so look forward for it  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ill fix the formatting later but i just wanted to post this first

                The idea of not being able to touch Minhyuk anymore was making Sanha a bit more stressed than it should. Maybe it was because they had been so close yesterday, it made him feel anxious.

                He was a lot less sick today since Dongmin had taken him to a hospital to get the shots he needed. His arm was still sore because of it, but at least most of his symptoms were gone. The only few things that lingered were his headache and slight dizziness. Still, it was a lot better than yesterday and he was proud to say that he wasn’t going to sneeze all over Minhyuk this time (or, at least he hoped so).

                Making their way back to Minhyuk’s was making him more nervous, Dongmin explaining the he needed to talk to Minhyuk before he left today. He was sad, especially since he couldn’t even show he was sad, and Minhyuk let them in and led them to the couches. It was silent, an awkward tension from their argument before making Sanha want to get up and either kick Dongmin out or leave himself. Dongmin cleared his throat.

                “So, I’m going to implement new rules.” Minhyuk tensed, and Sona detected it quickly. “You aren’t allowed to touch Sona anymore, no contact other than things lasting less than five seconds. Also, he will be going home earlier now. Instead of eight in the evening, he’ll come back at three in the afternoon.”

                “Are you kidding me?” Minhyuk reached over and took Sanha’s hand defiantly, making Sanha’s back heat up with a flush. “I can touch him all I want, he’s my robot. I’m the one who bought him.”

                “That’s _great_ , Mr. Park. When he’s finished with testing, you can feel free to kiss him if you’d like. Until then, you aren’t going to touch him, so I suggest you let go unless you’d like me to call this deal off.” He huffed, his hand still gripping Sanha’s (who was currently losing oxygen). Still, he loosened it and finally let go while Dongmin bore a hole into his soul with his glare. Sanha could cut the tension with a knife, and he would have if Dongmin didn’t stand up and take his bag with him. “What are you doing with Sona today?”

                “We’re going out with my friend. We’re gonna be out the whole time I have him.” Dongmin shot a look at Sanha that sent a shiver down his spine. He just looked at him back without an answer, unsure what he could say when given the choice, he’d hang out with Minhyuk all day. Still, Dongmin _was_ his best friend.

                “Fine, then I’ll go with you. I’m driving him, too.”

                Minhyuk stood up suddenly and grumbled at him, and Sanha watched as he made his way down to the elevator to go to his room. Dongmin rolled his eyes as he lead Sanha back to his car, Sanha following like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

***

                “Why didn’t I just ride with hyung- Minhyuk?”

                “Call him hyung again and I will _literally_ throw you out of the window.” If Sanha didn’t know that part of it was just him being frustrated with Minhyuk and even a little jealous, he’d be concerned. However, since he knew he was just being a dork, he leaned over and pinched his cheek with a giggle.

                They were going to meet Minhyuk at an ice cream joint that Myungjun and Jinwoo were going to eat at. Despite Myungjun and Jinwoo clearly being in love with each other – it was a complicated situation, Minhyuk had explained – they had still denied it so much that seeing them on a clear date made Sanha laugh. He got out of the car to see Minhyuk waiting in front of the ice cream shop with his hands shoved in his pockets. The weather was a lot colder today, and Sanha was freezing but layering on more jackets than one wouldn’t make sense if he was a robot. Still, Minhyuk wrapped a scarf around him when he walked up, adjusting it a bit and brushing his hair out of his eyes. Sanha could feel the stare from Dongmin, but he still gave Minhyuk a smile.

                Walking into the ice cream store with Minhyuk in front of him and Dongmin behind him made Sanha nervous, and Dongmin fell behind and took a table next to them while Minhyuk and Sanha sat down with Minhyuk’s friends. Myungjun and Jinwoo were already there, sharing an ice cream, and Jinwoo watched him sit with a focused gaze.

                “Pea sprout! You came a little late, didn’t you? Was the traffic bad?” He reached over to pat his head but Minhyuk reeled back with a scowl. “You brought your boyfriend, too! That’s so cute. Why don’t you go order something for yourself?” He turned to Sanha and winked. “Not sure if they serve motor oil here, babe.”

                Motor oil, good one, Sanha thought as he had to watch Minhyuk order something delicious while he would have to enjoy the air. Maybe he could convince Dongmin to bring him here later today, especially since he gets to leave earlier than usual now. Minhyuk came back with a sundae that was making Sanha’s mouth water, so he quickly averted his gaze. Jinwoo, however, noticed.

                “How are you two?” He took a bite and Sanha watched it move from his bowl to his mouth with a hidden frown. “It’s weird to be out with both of you.”

                “Ah, well. The weather is going to get bad starting today, especially with the rain that’s coming, so we just wanted to go out and enjoy it.” Myungjun smiled, a hand moving to rest on top of Jinwoo’s. Sona analyzed it, the prompter suggesting something that seemed a bit messy to say, but Sanha decided to run with it.

                “Hyung.” Sanha instantly got Minhyuk’s attention. “Is Jinwoo sad or are Jinwoo and Myungjun dating?”

                Myungjun nearly spit out his drink, and the hand on top of Jinwoo’s was yanked back. He could hear Dongmin having a coughing fit behind them, but he kept his innocent expression and wide eyes as he tilted his head. “W-why would you ask that?”

                “Because they’re holding hands. You only ever do that when you’re upset.” God, Sona was really making a statement here. “I learned it’s also if you’re dating someone.”

                The table grew silent until Myungjun started a conversation back up, clearly trying to rush past what Sanha had just said. Sure, it was a bit risky of him to make such suggestions, but he was glad to be able to excuse it on Sona. After all, robots didn’t know any better.

***

                They had finished their food and chatted for a few more hours before Myungjun admitted he had to leave, and Jinwoo agreed that he had a bit to do before the day ended. Even if Sanha had made it awkward before, Myungjun was really nice to him and it made him happy to hang out with them. Then again, they both thought he was a robot, and it was a bit harder for them to get close because of that. Still, they said their goodbyes with smiles that seemed sincere, and Dongmin had gone next door to a shop for a few parts he needed. Minhyuk was waiting with Sanha outside on the patio now, and the cold was making him want to shiver.

“Are you cold, hyung?” He didn’t get a response other than a very half-hearted nod. The clouds looked a lot heavier now, and it was making Sanha hope Dongmin would come back quickly. Today was already pretty eventful from just meeting Minhyuk’s friends, but he wondered if there was more he wanted to do for the remainder of the day. It was only eleven in the morning now, after all.

The clouds were unfortunately _too_ heavy now, and Sanha felt a light sprinkle begin that just barely brushed against his skin. Oh gosh, to be caught under the rain when he was supposed to be a robot was pretty problematic, but it seemed that Minhyuk had thought it through since he took out an umbrella from his bag and opened it up as the rain started falling down further. He was tugged in closer so they could both fit, and they watched the rain fall from under the umbrella for a bit.

They were close, almost painfully so, with their elbows brushing too often and Sanha’s cheeks lit in a dusty pink under his makeup. He stole a glance at Minhyuk who appeared to be staring off into the distance without much focus on Sanha. The umbrella tipped towards Minhyuk and Sanha felt droplets start to hit his shoulder, causing his sleeve to get wet.

Sanha frowned. “Hyung, the rain is getting on me.”

Minhyuk turned to him with just as intense of a look as he had when he was looking out before, something that sent a shiver down Sanha’s back and made his mouth shut almost instantly. They maintained their eye contact.

“ _Hyung_ , my sleeve is getting drenched.” He was a bit whinier now, feeling the cold water and getting antsy. “Please straighten the umbrella.”

Since Minhyuk didn’t move, he took it into his own hands and grabbed the pole, his hand brushing against Minhyuk’s as he pulled the pole up taught and smiled. The rain stopped pooling on his shoulder, and before he could make another smart comment an arm weaver around his waist and pulled him closer, into a tight embrace that had sirens going off in his head.

Minhyuk was _warm_. He was the warmest set of arms Sanha had ever been wrapped in, even warmer than his mother’s or Dongmin’s. And more than that, he was oh-so-comforting in a sweet way that made Sanha know he could easily get addicted. His cologne was wafting around him too, mixed with the fresh rain smell that made it feel like a wet forest.

He wasn’t sure why he was holding him so tightly exactly, or why he pulled back and they stayed inches from each other’s faces for just enough brief seconds for Sanha to _hear_ Minhyuk’s heart beating off the charts, but he did know that Dongmin was there when Minhyuk quickly let go and turned towards him. Sanha’s heart wasn’t at rest, and his mind was running at a million miles per hour, not to mention he was a lot dizzier than he had been even with his cold. But even then, his star-struck eyes couldn’t waver from Minhyuk with a slightly agape mouth, despite Dongmin shooting him a confused look and glancing at Minhyuk suspiciously.

Minhyuk rushed into his car and left the umbrella with Sanha once Dongmin was standing next to him, speeding off to get back home as Sanha and Dongmin loaded in in silence. When he was finally sheltered in the van, his face burst into crimson and he doubled over with his hands covering his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so emo i love socky.  
> ANYWAYS, close call moments are important for a good romance fic hehe~ i hope u guys liked this chapter!  
> hit me (up) @jingrapher


	8. Chapter 8

                The office lights were dimmed in Mr. Park’s office, the time closing in on nine in the evening now. He was growing more and more concerned as the days were passing, feeling like his son and his robot were becoming a bigger problem for his company. Minhyuk was throwing away opportunities, time, and energy, which was causing Mr. Park to grow more and more anxious as the time passed.

                The idea of a robot taking over Minhyuk’s responsibilities was absolutely unbearable to him, and it made sense that the other people on the board of directors were chastising him for promoting him in the first time. He knew what Minhyuk was doing, he wasn’t stupid, and he was more than ready to put an end to it.

                Now, deciding how he would put that idea into place was growing difficult. Having the meeting for the other branches cut short for Minhyuk to go home and check on his robot had quickly crossed the line, and he knew exactly who he needed to call then. His phone was already dialing as he stared out of his window with a pensive look. “Moon Bin.”

                “Hello, Mr. Park?”

                “I’m going to need you to look into something, or rather someone, for me.”

                “Who?”

                “ _Lee Dongmin_.”

***

                “I can’t believe I only have three days left.” Sanha spun around in Dongmin’s chair as his best friend worked on Sona. He was going over all of the things that had happened the last four days with starry eyes, still a bit unsure that things were even _real_. To Minhyuk, of course, they weren’t, but the idea of him showing so much affection when Sanha liked him was enough for him. “Am I just going to have to say goodbye when the week is over?”

                “You won’t have a chance to say goodbye, Yoonie, because to him you aren’t leaving.” Dongmin looked up from the robot and wiped the sweat off. Sanha knew that after Minhyuk had gotten mad at him, Dongmin was on a thin line with tolerating him. Still, he couldn’t help liking the CEO a lot, especially just because he had shown such kindness towards him. Even if he was harsh to yell at Dongmin like that, he did it because he cared about him. Or, cared about Sona, Sanha thought as he glared at the robot.

                Knowing that the end of the week was coming near, meaning the end of being with Minhyuk, was becoming a lot more daunting. The robot was coming together nicely and it seemed like there wasn’t much of a reason for Sanha to be needed afterwards. He wondered if maybe telling Minhyuk anyway would be a bad idea, since he had already bought the robot and there was no way he could return it. Maybe after he had it for a few weeks, he could come and tell him the truth. Sanha glanced over at Dongmin who had just finished up for the day and started grabbing his bag and sighed. He couldn’t betray his friend, unfortunately.

                The rest of the night passed easily for Sanha, until his head hit the pillow and he felt just so _small_ for a moment. He knew he should be happy for where he was, and he knew that it was his fault for feeling this way since Dongmin had told him not to get attached, but it still made his heart ache. Still, he told himself to suck it up and enjoy the next three days with all of his heart.

                Still, coming into Minhyuk’s house the next day was proving difficult, especially when he asked him to help adjust his tie or help him into his jacket. Driving with him was increasingly hard, too, and Sanha spend a few hours before he had finally focused on what Minhyuk was saying. He had only noticed he spaced out because of Minhyuk staring at him with a confused look and growing concern.

                “Can you repeat that, hyung?”

                “My father is throwing a company party tonight, I want to bring you but I’m not sure what Dongmin will say.”

                A company party? No matter what Dongmin was going to say, he had to go and take this chance to be with him. However, he knew it would most likely be after hours and it would be hard to convince him. He was lucky to have a message pop up that said _it’s fine_ , and he assumed that Dongmin had noticed Sanha feeling down. “I can go.”

                Minhyuk’s face lit up, a hand moving to pat Sanha’s head gently. “Good. I have a suit you can wear.”

                And he did, he had a _lot_ of suits he could wear, practically a whole closet’s worth. Sanha stood patiently as Rocky held up different colors before settling on a purpleish color and handing it to him. Rocky chose a crisp white suit and compared them together, nodding carefully. “Good, they look good together.”

                “Do we look good together, hyung?” Sanha might hate Sona now, but that was a great prompter.

                “We don’t look good together, we look the best together.” Minhyuk rested a hand on his arm and they had a moment of eye contact before Sanha broke it and grabbed the suit quickly. If there was a chance to avoid another embrace it was swiftly taken, he feared his heart beating out of his chest again.

***

                Waiting for the party was quickly filled with following Minhyuk around as he fiddled with things the waiters were putting out. The ballroom was _giant_ , a bigger party than Sanha had ever been to, matching only those seen in movies. He supposed it made sense, a lot of partners and investors being invited other than just all of the employees. To be invited (or rather, tagging along) was incredible to him.

The first people to trickle in were only employees, mostly the higher up ones and board members first. Minhyuk greeted them and introduced Sanha as a friend, turning to him for his name since ‘Sona’ was so clearly not normal. He took the opportunity quickly. “Hello, I’m Sanha.”

Minhyuk’s stare lingered for a moment before turning back to the people and nodding. His heart was racing at the idea of saying his real name, but it felt close enough to Sona that he could get away with it. The next people to come in included Bin, who gave Sanha a sharp gaze that made his heart almost stop. What was that about? “Bin, hi.”

“Hi, Minhyuk, Sona. You look nice.”

“Please call him Sanha while we’re here.” Minhyuk said this in a hushed voice, and Sanha felt a tinge of embarrassment at Minhyuk using his name.

“Are you ashamed of having a robot, Minhyuk?”

The underlying jab made Sanha uncomfortable, and when Bin’s eyes trailed to meet his he felt even worse. Dongmin’s prompter read _what’s that about?_ but he tried to brush it off when Minhyuk led him off to go see the food.

There was something increasingly off about Bin, and Sanha was growing more weary of it. The staring through the night was making his skin crawl, and while he stood with a cup of some drink he couldn’t have in his hand, Bin approached him as Minhyuk was talking to someone.

“So, how are you, _Sanha_?”

“I’m doing fine, Mr. Moon. How are you?”

“Great.” He glanced at Minhyuk before dropping his voice lower. “You can let Dongmin know that I’m investigating him. I don’t know what he’s hiding, but Mr. Park will find out sooner than later.”

Sanha’s heart dropped, and he felt himself physically stumble and bump into Minhyuk. His heart was racing again but in a bad way, and he felt like his world had stopped for a moment, just the expression on Bin’s face being burned into his eyes. The prompter read something but he couldn’t read since his eyes were spinning, and he felt himself once again stumble into Minhyuk, until he felt his stomach twisting and turning. He staggered off to a bathroom as he heard Minhyuk so distantly calling after him.

***

“Please pick me up, Dongmin, I feel sick.” He couldn’t read the prompter and he was trying his hardest not to cry as he rocked on the floor, thanking the heavens that this was a singular bathroom and not a stall. He wasn’t sure why the threat had affected him so much, especially since it was Dongmin’s career that would be ruined if the word was leaked, but he had a feeling it had something to do with completely losing Minhyuk’s trust. Dongmin popped up on a video chat and his face was concerned, but also holding back the panic that Sanha knew he felt.

“I can’t pick you up, Sanha, because he doesn’t know I monitor when you’re out with him. You can only come home when he asks me to get you or when it’s time to.” Sanha holding back tears seemed impossible now, and the video call cut out when a knock at the door was heard.

“Sona? Are you alright? What’s going on?”

Sanha held in the tears again, quickly taking a deep breath. “My battery is low, hyung.”

“Should we go home then?” His voice grew softer. “Can you open the door?” He hesitated and glanced at himself in the mirror, thankfully no stress showed on his face other than the expression he wore, but he quickly shifted to a dull stare and opened it slowly. Minhyuk looked worried, his eyebrows furrowed and his hands moving to cup Sanha’s face and frown. “Let’s go home then.”

***

                They were sitting on the roof of the house, overlooking the city and the bright lights under the inky sky, a bottle of wine on the table in front of him. It was cold now since it was the middle of the night once they had escaped the party, but Minhyuk had draped a blanket across his shoulders when they had gone up.

                It was nice to be sat across from each other under the starry sky, Minhyuk sipping from his wine glass and looking over the city. There weren’t a lot of moments where it was silent while they sat together and Sanha was cherishing it. The ambiance noises and the lighting of the candle on the table was making him feel warmer despite the cold weather. Moments like these made him think that maybe they weren’t as different as he expected they would be. The idea of being similar to a CEO or a CEO’s kid was a bit strange to him.

                He made it through the bottle somewhat quickly, and before Sanha knew it Minhyuk’s glass was empty and his eyes were still locked on the city behind him. Was he drunk? Sanha hadn’t seen him drink before, and he couldn’t tell what his tolerance was. Sona seemed to scan what he was thinking, and with a few observations on how his eyes were moving Sona said he was. Minhyuk broke his focus and turned to make eye contact with Sanha now, and he felt his back heat up with a blush. “Sona.”

                “Yes, hyung?”

                “Sona, please don’t be a robot anymore.”

                The silence fell again, a few chirps from insects being the only noise he could hear. “I can’t do that.”

                “Sona.” He reached across the table and grabbed Sanha’s arm. “ _Please._ ”

                Sanha knew he couldn’t cry but watching as Minhyuk’s eyes began tearing up and his hand tugged his arms closer was making it dangerous not to.  He didn’t know why he was becoming so emotional suddenly, but Sanha got up slowly and went around the table to sit next to him, Minhyuk leaning his head on his shoulder and sobbing quietly. Sanha was gentle as he pet his hair and whispered that it was okay, and before he knew it Minhyuk had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

                “Minhyuk…” A star flew above their heads unnoticed. “I don’t want to be a robot anymore, either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I JUST REALIZED I NEVER UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	9. Chapter 9

                For Sanha, he had always seen Dongmin as his most important friend, but he became more like a brother as the time went on. Having even the slightest idea of betraying him by telling Minhyuk who he truly was meant his brain was plagued with what a horrible brother he was.

                He hadn’t considered that this job would be so difficult when he took it, neither had he considered that the man he would be working for would be so attractive or so easy to get attached to. He couldn’t imagine that he would be in this situation, and he was finding himself so ready to just leave the job entirely. Sanha knew it was cowardly of him to just run away from his problems but he also wasn’t sure how to handle it when he didn’t have anyone to talk to about it.

                Today was the last day he would meet with Minhyuk, and Dongmin had decided to take him out for breakfast as a final prep before his last day. He felt guilty as he took another bite of his pancake, watching Dongmin check an email on his phone before turning it back off and smiling at him. He was an idiot for getting attached to Minhyuk, and he knew that now.

***

                Bin had a job that he was hesitating now. As he got to know the _Lee Dongmin_ that Mr. Park assigned him to he found himself liking him a bit more. The fact that he had made so many accomplishments in such a short amount of time was incredible to someone who had dedicated so much towards his job at a young age. He wasn’t sure why Mr. Park was so adamant to ruin his life like this, but he was going to do a good job since he respected Mr. Park this much.

                According to his sources, Dongmin had been spotted at a small café on the way to Minhyuk’s house, and he made his way there swiftly. Once he got there he found Dongmin and Sanha in the café with food in front of them, his camera was slowly drawn to his eyes as he took photos of Sanha eating food. Of course he wasn’t a robot, Bin thought to himself as his blood boiled. His name was Yoon Sanha and he was Dongmin’s best friend.

                Now all he had to do was let Mr. Park know.

***

                It was eight in the morning now, and Sanha was standing in front of the door with his hands shaking slightly. He didn’t want to go inside when he knew it was the last time he would get a chance to. It felt final, especially since he knew that after today he would basically have to avoid Minhyuk like the plague. Dongmin was watching from the car, and a message came up that said _go inside_ but he still hesitated. Finally, he knocked and waited a few seconds before the door was opened and Minhyuk appeared before him. He was dressed so casually that Sanha almost didn’t recognize him, just a pair of jeans and a soft, oversized hoodie.

                “Sona.”

                “Hi, hyung.” Minhyuk’s smile lit up his face, pulling him inside and guiding him to the couch quickly.

                “Just stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.” Minhyuk ran off for a bit and Sanha felt his anxiety slow down after they had made physical contact. He came back in with a blanket and pillow and gestured for Sanha to hold his arms out. He shimmied his jacket off, wrapping a blanket around him gently and sitting down next to him. Sanha wasn’t sure what was happening until Minhyuk had turned on the TV and a romantic movie had popped up on the screen. “I want to stay in today…since it’s our last day together.”

                _Last day_ hurt. “What are we doing, hyung?”

                “We’re going to watch a movie, and then we can go out to the beach. After,” Minhyuk cleared his throat. “We can come back.”

                “Are you sad?” Sanha was lucky his voice didn’t crack there, because he felt a shiver down his spine after saying it.

                “Hush, we’re going to watch a movie now.” Minhyuk’s arm draped across the back of the couch, and Sanha scooted closer subconsciously. Minhyuk smiled slightly as he pressed play. The movie was stereotypically romantic, the idea of unobtainable love and so many obstacles that they should just give up. But then again, it was always love that prevailed and they found themselves together in the end. Sanha was bitter to see that, because he felt like if he couldn’t get a happy ending, neither should they.

                There were still cute scenes in it, things like having picnics in forests and running away together in the late hours of the night. Things that Sanha wished he could do with the boy next to him right now.

                The movie ended quickly, letting Sanha notice that they were very closely snug, and Minhyuk had laced an arm around his waist comfortably. The credits were rolling slowly and Minhyuk sighed, a hand gently brushing Sanha’s hair off his forehead and smiling.

                “Alright, let’s get to the beach then.”

***

                Going to the beach with Minhyuk was rather unexpected, but he did admit that the drive there was beautiful and the sea was sparkling so prettily that he almost forgot all of his troubles. Minhyuk had gone up to the edge of the shore, the waves almost crashing at his feet. It was picturesque to say the least; Sanha was happy that this was one of the final scenes he’d remember all of him and Minhyuk’s time together, but it also made his heart hurt.

                “Sona!” Minhyuk’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Come here.”

                He walked closer to where Minhyuk was, crouched next to a tiny hole with his eyes focused on the sand. Sanha stooped next to him and looked at where he was pointing to find a tiny baby turtle waddling around in the sand. He was probably just freshly hatched, struggling to make his way out to the water and just a few tiny steps from it. The little baby was adorable, and Minhyuk started giggling. “What is it?”

                “He looks like you.” Sanha blinked a few times, Minhyuk gently picking up the turtle and holding it up closer to Sanha’s face. “Big eyes, a tiny nose,” The turtle opened his mouth. “woah, big mouth too.”

                “Hyung!” Sanha whined, and Minhyuk turned to gently push the turtle into the sea. The baby quickly swam off, trying to catch up to all of his siblings that had gone off so far ahead. Sanha stood up suddenly, Minhyuk following suit and bumping into him, turning around only for them to meet eyes and be way too close for comfort. Other than the crashing of waves behind them, Sanha could only hear his own heart and the soft breathing from Minhyuk. They didn’t speak, but Minhyuk’s hand wrapped around Sanha’s wrist almost as if he knew that he was ready to pull away.

                If Sanha had a choice, he would stay like this forever. Staring at the sea behind Minhyuk and close enough to him to feel the heat he was giving off. He liked this, he liked Minhyuk, and he didn’t want him to let go any time soon. His mind went back to the movie they had watched together and how the couple had been just like this on the beach together, the girl in a flowy sundress and the boy in some buttoned-up shirt and slacks. And yet, Sanha was dressed in the CEO’s jacket and Minhyuk stood before him in that hoodie that looked so worn and yet so cozy. It wasn’t as beautiful of a scene technically, but to Sanha it was even _more_ so.

                “In the movie…” Sanha’s eyes were shaky but still maintained stuck on Minhyuk’s. “this is when they kissed.”

                There wasn’t another word exchanged before Minhyuk pulled Sanha closer by his wrists, letting Sanha press their lips together. It didn’t go further than that, just a gentle collision of two halves of a whole, something Sanha had anticipated and dreamed of since he set eyes on Minhyuk. He had to admit that it wasn’t particularly mind-blowing or anything, but it was filled with so much pure love that Sanha wished he could freeze it like this.

***

                They had made their way back to the house silently, and the hours had passed by until it was one in the afternoon. Sanha’s heart was still pounding after they had done that _thing_ and he noticed that Minhyuk hadn’t glanced over him once after it. His eyebrows were furrowed, and it made him scared that he had ruined things between them by kissing him. Then again, he had pulled him closer which meant it was clearly mutual that they wanted to kiss each other.

                On the drive home, Minhyuk’s phone had gone off in the car, Minhyuk picking it up on the Bluetooth. “Hello?”

                “Minhyuk. You need to come up to the office immediately.”

                “I’m busy today-”

                “I don’t care. Your responsibility is to your company and your company solely.”

                “Fine, I’ll be there within the hour.”

                “Thirty minutes.” The call cut off as the other person hung up, caller ID showing Sanha that it was Minhyuk’s father. Sanha was worried that it meant their final time together was cut short, but they arrived at the house safely and went in. Minhyuk paced around before going to his room to change into his suit, and Sanha waited patiently until he came out of his room. Minhyuk frowned and Sanha stood up quickly.

                He knew that it was time to say goodbye now, and it seemed like Minhyuk noticed when his eyes were watering. Sanha was praying he wasn’t going to cry, because Sanha didn’t want to have to bite back the tears. He took a few steps closer to him and waved for Sanha to hold out his hand, and when his wrist came up Minhyuk carefully clasped a bracelet around it. It read _PMH_ , and Sanha was very sure that the verge of tears would soon pour out. Minhyuk pulled him into a tight embrace, the sobbing coming from his heart making Sanha wrap his arms around him and pat his back gently. Before he knew it, Dongmin was knocking on the door to take Sanha home before Minhyuk made his way off to work. This was really it for Sanha and Minhyuk, and he felt like he wanted to crumble.

                Dongmin took him and they loaded into the car, the drive home letting Sanha sob uncontrollably, his whole body shaking the whole way to Dongmin’s apartment. He knew that Dongmin was concerned for him, but he gave him the space that Sanha needed and just decided to order in food rather than going out. Sanha wasn’t hungry, he insisted, but Dongmin made sure he at least ate a little bit before they had settled in.

                Hours had passed by and Sanha felt his body be a bit less sore from the crying. This was also since he had chugged a few glasses of water after feeling so dehydrated, but he had felt so numb that he was finding it hard not to curl up in Dongmin’s bed and go to sleep. The doorbell rang again while Dongmin was in the bathroom, and he yelled for Sanha to get it. He hesitated after catching himself in the mirror with messy hair and red, puffy eyes, but knew he couldn’t have a chance to fix himself up before opening it. The doorbell rang twice this time, and he sighed and opened the door.

                He didn’t expect a frantic Minhyuk to be on the other side, holding a photo of Sanha eating pancakes with Dongmin pinching his cheeks, tears still rolling out of his eyes and hitting the carpet under his shoes, and yet there he was, causing Sanha’s heart to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	10. Chapter 10

                Sanha had a lot of heart-stopping moments in his life. When his brother had moved to America without telling him or his parents, that was one. When he thought Dongmin was going to leave too, that was another one. But it seemed like the worst one was when Minhyuk had appeared so suddenly in front of him.

                His expression alone was heart-breaking, but the fact that he was staring at Sanha in regular clothes with puffy red eyes from the previous crying made his heart shatter more. They stood staring at each other until Dongmin had come into the room to look at who had knocked, and he nearly dropped his cup out of his hand.

                “Park Minhyuk?”

                “Sona.” Sanha felt like Minhyuk had stepped on the shards of his heart. “What is your _real_ name?” Sanha couldn’t answer because his throat was closed, and his eyes were wide. How could he say anything to him when he knew he had betrayed him for the past week? Minhyuk took a step closer which caused Sanha to stumble backwards. “ _What is your name?!_ ” That was the first time Minhyuk had shouted at him.

                “S-Sanha. Yoon Sanha.”

                “Park Minhyuk, how on Earth did you get my address and what are you doing here?” Dongmin stepped between them and put a hand behind him to squeeze Sanha’s for some sort of comfort. However, his body was already shaking so hard it didn’t help much.

                “Who the hell are you, Sanha? Who are you? Why were you pretending to be a robot?” Minhyuk looked over Dongmin entirely and Sanha cowered a bit. He was scared to answer any questions in fear of saying something wrong that would hurt Dongmin.

                “Answer my questions before I call apartment security to escort you out.” Dongmin was a hell of a lot calmer than Sanha was at the moment. “I will not hesitate to call.”

                “Are you really daring to threaten _me_ when you just had a human being pretend to be a robot for a week? I could end your career in a blink of an eye and I’m planning to.” Minhyuk shoved the paper against Dongmin’s chest. “What’s this? You eating with what you claimed to be was Sona, your robot? What the hell kind of operation are you running?”

                “I would explain but it seems like you aren’t interested in any logical conversation.”

                “Don’t be a smartass with me, Lee.”

                Sanha tugged at the back of Dongmin’s shirt. He knew that when Minhyuk hated someone he would try his best to make their life a living hell. The proof being his own father and their conflicts. It was best if Dongmin was compliant for the moment.

                “And _you_. Why are you hiding behind him?”

                “I’m going to respectfully ask you to leave, Mr. Park.”

                There was a pregnant pause before Minhyuk took the photo and ripped it up, throwing it at Sanha and letting the papers hit him gently before floating down on the floor. He turned on his heel and before walking down the hallway turned back. “This isn’t going to be the last you see of me. You’re screwed, Lee.”

***

                Minhyuk couldn’t help but cry on the drive back to the office. He knew that if anyone was an idiot, it was him for not putting the pieces together, but his heart still felt betrayed by it. He wished that he had more time to grieve the loss of Sona (or, Sanha he supposed) but his father had scheduled a meeting entirely too convenient for the devastating mood he had broken to him just hours before.

                He got into the meeting room to be met with the entire board of directors, and he entered with his eyes still partially red and puffy. Their heads all turned to watch him as he entered the room and he sat down without speaking. His father cleared his throat and pushed papers towards him. “We have a deadline coming up and you need to sign these.”

                Minhyuk hesitated since he knew his emotional state wasn’t the right one to be making business decisions, but he also knew he wasn’t in a state to fight back. He signed it quickly and pushed the papers back to him. His dad handed it back to the chairman next to him and then smiled at his son. “So, what legal action are you taking against Lee Dongmin and Yoon Sanha?”

                A murmur erupted across the members and Minhyuk could feel his stomach sink. He didn’t want this to be made public, and he didn’t want all of his employees to know about it either. He was starting to feel like his father was taking advantage of how fragile he was. “Why are we discussing this here?”

                “Because it’s very easy to get caught up in a scandal, and that would be detrimental to the company.” His father gestured at the other men and they nodded in agreement. “I suggest from my experience that you sue Lee and file a restraining order against Yoon.”

                “It’s not your business what I do.” His tone was cold now and his gaze colder. Minhyuk got up before his father could say more and left the office, already on his phone and dialing Myungjun’s number.

                He hadn’t seen Myungjun in a bit and he knew that if anyone was going to be properly there for him (other than Sona) it was going to be him. Their call was short and sweet and ended with Myungjun assuring he was on his way, so Minhyuk began making his way out of the building – only to bump into Bin. He stumbled back and looked at him, Bin giving him a gentle smile.

                “Did you hear the news?” Minhyuk just stared at him with a blank expression. “About Lee – you know, the scientist?”

                “Excuse me?”

                “Your father put me on the case. It was hard to watch, I’m glad that he–”

                Minhyuk slapped him, the impact of Bin’s face against his hand numb. It was a loud clap that radiated against the walls until it slowly faded out. Minhyuk hadn’t hit someone in what felt like ages, but to him nothing felt more satisfying than this moment. He wasn’t sure _why_ he had hit him when he had revealed the truth, but he supposed that the way Bin got involved with his business and disturbed his peace irked him.

                With that, he turned his heel and shook off the hand that latched on to his wrist to sit in the car, Myungjun already waiting on the passengers side. He let him in and slumped onto the wheel, letting out the tears he had held in for the last hour or so. Myungjun just sat next to him and rubbed soothing circles on his back until he was ready to talk about what was wrong. He pulled his head closer and petted his hair.

                “So, what’s wrong?”

                “Sona…” Myungjun’s interest piqued when he heard the name, and he petted a little softer since he knew it was a sensitive topic. “Sona isn’t a robot.”

                “Oh, oh baby…” Myungjun bit his lip to prevent from laughing. “How did you find out?”

                “Are you _laughing_ right now?”

                “No! Of course not!” He choked back another one until Minhyuk sat up and saw the smile on his face.

                “Why are you laughing?” Myungjun pulled him into a tight hug and squeezed.

                “Because Jinwoo told me a helluva lot of suspicious about Sona from the beginning. I had my ideas as well but I kept it to myself since you were so happy.” Minhyuk frowned at his best friend. “You’re really clueless sometimes, you told me he got _sick_ and that he _drooled_ for heavens’ sake, Minhyuk.”

                “Shut up! How was I supposed to know a robotics scientist was lying to me? You’re supposed to trust the professionals.” Minhyuk couldn’t help but start laughing a little at Myungjun’s contagious giggle. “Alright, whatever, you’re probably right. The point is that he was lying to me – he being Sanha, not Sona, that is – and the scientist Lee Dongmin is also a liar. What kind of professional would do that?!”

                “Did you ask why?” It was silent for a second and Myungjun shook his head in a motherly way. “Tsk tsk, and you wonder why you’re in so much conflict.”

                “What do I do, hyung?” He didn’t call Myungjun that much, it was saved for situations where he was as vulnerable as this.

                “Well, you have to talk to him.”

***

                Minhyuk knew that Myungjun was right, but the rest of the day passed like a blur. He knew he hadn’t eaten dinner, but Myungjun had ordered him a pizza in and told him to send him photo proof that he had at least eaten one slice, so he listened. He didn’t want to worry him after all, especially since he was being so supportive. Myungjun told him that everything would work out with time and for now he could allow himself to be sad – then he would have to pull himself together and be real.

                It made getting through the night a little easier, but he had to admit that it was difficult to get up the next morning. Staring over at the clock and hearing the house be pin-drop silent was making him anxious. Growing accustomed to the constant presence of Sona was making his heart hurt worse when he was gone, and he dragged his feet around the kitchen with a frown.

                He ate slowly and got dressed even slower, his hands gliding over the many suits that were pulled for So- _Sanha_ to try so recently. Minhyuk shook it off and got ready, adjusting his tie and almost making his way out of the door before he heard a knock that made him jump out of his skin. He hesitated before opening the door, but his jaw clenched when he saw Sanha standing there. He was in ordinary clothes – a hoodie and a pair of jeans – and held a bag of other garments in his hands.  Sanha’s gaze was hitting every spot except for Minhyuk’s eyes, and the bag slowly moved out for Minhyuk to take it.

                “Here, it’s the clothes you let Sona borrow. I got them dry-cleaned appropriately. I also put that ring you bought me in there, too.”

                “Don’t want it.” Minhyuk didn’t intend for it to come out so harsh, and Sanha winced at the comment.

                “Al…alright.” He took the ring out of the bag and slid it into his pocket. “I’m sorry.”

                “Sorry for _what_?” Minhyuk’s eyes trailed over the red, swollen eyes that seemed to be like that since they had seen each other the day before, the unkempt hair, and the fresh tear stains on the sleeves that he was tugging at. It seemed like he was sincere, but it was far too early for Minhyuk to accept his apology. “Sorry for lying to me for the last week and betraying the trust that I put into you, or sorry for thinking I’d want the ring I got for you back?”

                “I’m sorry for everything, hyu-”

                “Don’t you dare call me that. I’m Mr. Park to you.”

                Sanha couldn’t get a single syllable out before giving a deep bow and turning around to run off crying. Minhyuk felt like his heart was breaking with each step Sanha had taken away from him, but he couldn’t yell out for Sanha to stop. He felt like his throat was closing.

                He made his way back into the house instead of leaving early for work, and he removed the clothes from the bag with furrowed brows. Sorting through them was easy since they were professionally folded which meant that Minhyuk put them away rather quickly. However, as he was reaching a tall shelf and tucking a pair of pants away in Sanha’s room, a note fell out of the pocket. It was scribbled in way that took a moment for Minhyuk to read, so he leaned back and sat on the bed to read it carefully. Since it was so crumbled up, Minhyuk wondered if Sanha had intended to give it to him at all.

               

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THAT THIS IS TWO WEEKS LATE  
> i'm on a hiatus on tumblr. things are just overwhelming right now. i hope you all like this, sorry for it all being angsty :(  
> next chapter will be happier for sure!  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you haven't already, check out chapter eight! i made a mistake with uploading and forgot to put it up, and there are important points in the chap. thank you! :)

                Lee Dongmin had to admit that his love for his career had gotten in between his relationships in the past. It started when he was in high school, a girl asking him out and him accepting it only to ditch her for a livestream his favorite professor from America was doing. He knew that it was becoming an issue when he insisted he stayed behind as his parents moved to Busan. He loved his family, surely, but the idea of staying alone and being able to focus more exclusively on his work was ideal.

                When he had met Sanha all those years ago, he swore to himself that the kid wouldn’t get in his way. He was awfully persistent in wanting to be his friend, but Dongmin was a cold person even back in middle school and would rather stay away from him. There was nothing wrong with Sanha per se, but the lanky and loud child would easily get in the way of what Dongmin wanted to do. Even at a young age Dongmin was particularly goal-oriented, while Sanha was more of a regular middle schooler who preferred to play outside or awkwardly chase girls.

                Despite the pushing that Dongmin did, Sanha seemed to stick by his side incessantly. As the time passed Dongmin did get used to it but he did still limit Sanha from following him home every day until they hit high school age. He had to admit that after college he found Sanha his closest confident and friend; and while his family was so far away, and he had sparse time to visit, he would choose to spend it with Sanha instead.

                Dongmin knew that his career might be coming to a close soon because of the mistake that he had made, and the mistake he had dragged Sanha into. He knew this also because of how the chairmen at the sales firm Minhyuk ran called him in personally for a meeting. Sanha was sound asleep when he woke up to the phone call, and he didn’t have the heart to wake him up. The poor kid had been clutching to him all night until he had gotten up now, the muffled sobs at two in the morning being ignored by Dongmin out of pity. If anything, he felt the most at fault for everything.

                Meeting with them went swiftly and with a lot less conflict than he had imaged, other than that off the bat they tried to bribe him. When he got there and saw that Mr. Park was missing, he knew that things were shady off the bat.

                “Mr. Lee, we all know that your fate is in our hands here.”

                “We just need you to sign this formal complaint and we can file it towards getting Minhyuk fired.”

                Despite this being an offer to drop all charges and therefore erase the Sona scandal entirely, Dongmin knew that it wasn’t the right thing to do. If he had learned anything from Sona, it was that doing the wrong thing would bite you back in the end. Because of this, he took the formal complaint and calmly ripped it in front of them, tossing the tiny shreds on the ground and grabbing his bag to leave without another word. He didn’t like Minhyuk that much for sure, but he knew how much he meant to Sanha and he wasn’t interesting in upsetting him any more than he was already upset.

                The walk out of the meeting room and back downstairs was paused when he heard a man calling for him, and with a turn to the right he saw a tall, suited guy around his age waving at him intensely. He had no idea who he was, but he paused until he caught up with him.

                “I’m Moon Bin. I’m the person who found out Sanha was Sona.”

***

                Sanha would be lying if he said he wasn’t startled by the emptiness of Dongmin’s apartment when he woke up. A note on the bed beside him read that he was out for a bit and would be home soon, also that breakfast was on the stove and to call him if there was anything he needed. Sanha rubbed his eyes carefully before checking his phone for any updates. Alas, there weren’t any other than a text from an unknown number that made him confused.

                _Hey there, this is Myungjun, aka Minhyuk’s best friend. I’d like to talk over a phone call if you have the time!_

He read over it three more times before realizing his sleepy eyes weren’t deceiving him, and it was true that Myungjun had contacted him. He didn’t even think about how he would have gotten his number but instead scrambled to press the call button and waited anxiously on the edge of Dongmin’s bed. The phone rang twice before Myungjun picked up, and Sanha stood up suddenly while clearing his throat.

                “Hello, Myungjun.”

                “Hi, Sanha.”

                “Why did you want to talk to me?” Sanha blurted this out before he realized he probably sounded pretty rude. “Not…not that I didn’t want to talk to you or anything. I’m just curious.”

                “No, I’m sure it sounds strange for me to want to talk to you since I don’t know you very well. However, I am Minhyuk’s best friend.” Sanha swallowed. “Jinwoo and I knew that you weren’t a robot before Bin revealed it.”

                “You _did_?”

                “Of course I did! I’m incredibly smart, not to mention very handsome. Such a dangerous combination, but also so beneficial.” An additional voice on the other side cleared his throat, and Sanha assumed it was Jinwoo. “The thing is, Minhyuk still cares about you for sure. He doesn’t want to meet you tonight because he feels like he’s too hurt to fix things, but he also feels like he hurt you too much for you to care. Do you still want to meet him?”

                He slouched back onto the bed and sighed. “Of course I do. I miss him so much my heart hurts constantly.”

                “You sound sincere, hm…” Myungjun paused on the other side and whispered something to Jinwoo. “I’ll help you, Yoon Sanha. You’re going to have to follow these instructions very carefully.”

***

                When Dongmin got dressed today, he didn’t expect to be sitting across from the man who personally ended his career. The urge to reach over and hit Mr. Moon was strong, but he resisted it when the man came back to the table with a coffee for each of them. He didn’t want to stop by the company’s café on the way out but Mr. Moon had insisted either way, so Dongmin spared ten minutes of his time.

                It was quiet since they didn’t really know each other (though Mr. Moon revealed that he had done quite a bit of research on him, so maybe they did know each other in a one-sided sense). It was unsettling to watch the man stare at him, and he took a sip of his coffee and averted his gaze. “I’m sorry, this must be really weird.”

                “It is. Why do you want to talk to me?” Dongmin set his cup back down and frowned.

                “I know it’s too late but…I’m sorry. I didn’t realize things would end up like this.”

                “You don’t know the half of it.”

                “I _do_. I’m an employee here actually, I work at an international branch and Mr. Park trusts me.” Bin offered Dongmin a pastry and he shook his head. “I know that they’re trying to bribe you to help them fire Minhyuk. Mr. Park doesn’t know about it, actually.”

                The more Dongmin heard, the more he believed that this company was a lot less connected than he had expected. It was strange to him that it was so successful and yet so broken on the inside of it. He had a feeling that maybe it was to do with Minhyuk being hired later on. “So what?”

                “So, the threats they’re making are mostly empty, except for the ones that Mr. Park are backing. They still want to sue you.”

                “I still don’t understand why you’re involved, Mr. Moon.”

                “I care a lot about Minhyuk…and after looking into you I know that you’re a very hardworking person and I really regret going into this without knowing that. I’m going to do everything I can in my power to protect you and Minhyuk.”

                Dongmin pushed his chair back and took another sip of his coffee before standing back up. “That won’t be necessary, you’ve done enough.”

                “But-”

                “Goodbye, Mr. Moon.”

***

                Sanha was running around the apartment haphazardly, looking through Dongmin’s closet with a bit too much determination for his organization. He was looking for a nice outfit to meet Minhyuk in, and considering he hadn’t been to his own house in three days and also had a very unreasonable closet, he was turning to Dongmin’s for help. His hands were shaking as he ran his fingers through a few shirts he was choosing when he was interrupted by the sound of the door being unlocked. Dongmin entered the room and fell on the bed silently.

                He still had no idea where Dongmin had gone, but he continued getting ready for the next hour before he made his way back to the room and sat next to Dongmin.

                “I’m going to meet Minhyuk.”

                “That’s nice.”

                “Are you okay?”

                Dongmin’s eyes closed slowly. “Not really. Do you need help getting ready? Need me to drive you?”

                “No, Jinwoo is picking me up.” Dongmin nodded and tossed his wallet at Sanha. “Thanks, hyung.”

                He continued getting ready until it was almost time to leave, and he stopped at the mirror by the door and stared at himself for a moment. It was a strange thought that Minhyuk’s best friend and his boyfriend were so ready to help him considering they barely knew him, but it was giving him hope that maybe Minhyuk cared more than he was leading on.

                There was a moment of hesitation before he put his hand on the door handle. He was putting a lot of pressure on this one meeting with Minhyuk and he realized that maybe he shouldn’t expect more than he was going to get. Sanha took a big breath of air and nodded, heading out of the door to see Jinwoo’s car out front. He felt nervous to be in the same car as him when they’ve barely talked, but he got in and thanked him for the ride politely. Other than the music playing on the radio they sat in silence for the duration of the ride. Sanha could feel his anxiety eating him up from the inside, and he was tempted to ask him to turn around just so his heart would stop beating in his ears.

                According to Myungjun’s plan, he and Minhyuk were going to get some coffee at a café by the river. Myungjun decided that since Sanha was so desperate to at least share his side of the story, he would allow him to go and meet him instead. He would meet Minhyuk and excuse himself to the bathroom, allowing Sanha a short window of time to come in and sit down, while Myungjun can leave with Jinwoo as they talked. Sanha had to admit that it was a good plan, but he was wondering if it would make Minhyuk even angrier at him. Either way, he owed Myungjun and Jinwoo big time.

                They pulled into the parking lot a few minutes earlier than scheduled, and Jinwoo sat in the car with him as they waited for Myungjun to text that he was in the bathroom. It was awkward to say the least, but Sanha was saved by Myungjun’s text. He gathered his phone and Dongmin’s wallet and opened the car door, a hand on his arm stopping him. He turned with a startled expression to see Jinwoo smiling at him and telling him good luck. Oh, he really would need luck.

                It was nerve-wracking to peek into the café and see that it was mostly empty, and Sanha immediately recognized Minhyuk at a table in the corner, sipping on a latte and staring at his phone. For the second time that day, he took a deep breath and gripped his phone. The smell of coffee hit him the moment the door was opened, but in a comforting way as he made his way to Minhyuk’s table and cleared his throat.

                “Hi, Minhyuk.”

                Minhyuk nearly dropped his phone into his coffee just at his _voice_ and his eyes quickly darted up to meet Sanha’s. “What are you doing here?”

                “Myungjun said you were here.”

                “Why did you come?” It felt like a ball was in Sanha’s throat, but he sat down anyway.

                “I want to talk to you.” Minhyuk didn’t answer him, he just stared and set his phone down on the table. “I know you read my note. I’m sorry for everything I did.”

                “When we met…” Minhyuk leaned into his cup and gave Sanha a sharp stare. “…was everything just because you were hired to do it? Did you feel anything?”

                “ _God_ , of course I did. I was interested in you from the beginning, since when you found me at the contest and told Dongmin you wanted to get a Sona yourself.” Sanha’s leg was jittering under the table. “At first I tried to be reserved with when I talked to you, especially since I was only supposed to say things that Sona generated, but as I talked to you more I guess I spoke more of my own mind. I just wanted to connect with you personally even though I knew it was a limited time we’d be together.”

                “Really?”

                “Do you think a highly intelligent robot would ask if we looked good together?” A faint smile graced Minhyuk’s features and it made Sanha’s heart slow down a bit. “I know I made a lot of mistakes and I wish I had done so differently.  I think I just got excited at the chance to see you again and I knew that when you saw me once I wouldn’t be able to see you again. I’m sorry.”

                It fell silent again and Sanha could feel his leg shaking again. “I see.”

                “I really am sorry. _Really_ , Minhyuk. If you want me to disappear forever, I’ll do it. I just wanted to tell you the truth before I have to.”

                “I need to think.”

                Sanha stood up and took his phone and wallet. “Okay. Can I just ask for one thing?”

                “What?”

                “Please keep Dongmin safe. I think that the chairmen that don’t like you are using him. Please don’t let him be hurt because of this, it was my fault for accepting his offer.” He gave a deep bow and walked out with those final words, leaving Minhyuk at his table himself.

***

                Minhyuk knew that he was making an irrational decision, but when he walked into the office and had Sanha’s words playing over and over in the back of his head, he knew that this was what he needed to do if he wanted to make an impact large enough for Sanha’s wishes. Whether he was ready to admit it yet or not, he had a lot of feelings that were left stirring in his gut for Sanha, and he wanted to make things right for him even if he wasn’t ready to accept anything quite yet. He would take everything one step at a time.

                He walked into his father’s office, where the two other top chairmen were sitting around a coffee table, and he cleared his throat. They turned to him with surprise and their conversation tapered out when they realized who it was.

                “I’d like to formally resign as CEO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i know a lot happened in this chap kjfdhbgf  
> next chapter will be a lot happier i promise ♡  
> happy easter to anyone who celebrates!  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	12. Chapter 12

                There were a lot of difficult choices that Minhyuk was destined to make in his life. He had to choose between his personal life and his work life so many times and found himself stuck with a good business life and a severe lack of social life. He was content with it for so long – that was until Sona (or Sanha) had come into his life. There was something  _right_  about being in his company that he was ready to change his life for. It was rash, god,  _so_  rash, of him to just quit his job like that, but he felt like he was too hesitant in taking risks in his life and he needed to change that. 

                His father was a lot more understanding than he expected, and after sitting down with him they came to a compromise of being joint-owners of the company until Minhyuk felt ready to take over. He wondered why it was so easy to talk to him when he brought up his issues forthright, but then he could hear Sanha playing in the back of his mind, reminding him that without any communication he couldn’t change his life. He was right, he knew he was right, and even thought it was late he took his advice in the end.

                When he finally got home he was exhausted, declaring he was home to no one in particular and slumping onto the couch with a sigh. With that out of the way, he was ready to rest for the rest of the day. That was until his phone went off, the caller ID reading Lee Dongmin. He frowned at it and didn’t plan to answer until it popped up with a red exclamation point that read urgent. Minhyuk rolled his eyes but picked up the phone nonetheless.

                “What.”

                “A bit rude, Mr. Park.” Minhyuk hadn’t heard Dongmin’s voice in a while and he had to be honest that it startled him a bit. 

                “Do you need something?”

                “I wanted to know if you still wanted Sona…” Minhyuk’s heart stopped at the name. “I assumed since you put down a deposit you might still want him. Everything is finished with him and if you don’t take him I’ll probably just sell him to a p-”

                “Of course I want him.” Minhyuk said this harsher than he expected. “Bring him tomorrow, I want a  _real_  test day since you clearly didn’t give me one the past month.”

                “All of the mechanics that Sanha used were traits of Sona. You were testing the AI and functionality of Sona whether it was Sanha delivering it or not.” Dongmin’s voice was surprisingly calm considering how frustrating Minhyuk knew he was being. They confirmed a meeting time and Minhyuk laid back on his couch with a groan. Part of him was worried about seeing the real Sona, considering he still had Sanha in his mind as the robot. Would he look much different than Sanha? Would he act much different than Sanha? It was starting to concern him that maybe Sona would end up  _too_  different.

                The night passed uneventfully and it left him lying awake for too many hours in bed. He woke up the next day with a fear of what was to come and was met with Dongmin at the door at nine in the morning sharp. Dongmin was a lot colder towards him than he had been before. Minhyuk supposed that it made sense that their acquaintanceship would be changed after what happened, but it was unsettling for Dongmin to barely speak a word towards him. He gave a rundown of what Minhyuk needed to know to operate Sona and left him with the robot for the day.

                From the get-go, Minhyuk felt like Sona was  _different_. With Sanha, he felt nothing but life emanating from him. With Sona, he felt like he was a lot more robotic (as expected) and it was very off-putting. “Hello, Sona.”

                “Hello, hyung.” Sona’s voice was scarily similar to Sanha’s, and before Minhyuk knew it he was burying his face in his hands and trying his best not to break out into tears.

***

                Sanha felt a pain in his heart suddenly. Dongmin was hanging over his kitchen table and organizing paperwork that was strewn about. He hadn’t gone home in a while now, staying over at Dongmin’s for the comfort of having someone else there. The last few days were a strange silence though, especially since Dongmin seemed so busy with God knows what. It was worrying him when he passed by Dongmin last night as he was looking at what seemed to be travel fees, but he got his water and went back to sleep without asking anything else. 

                The disconnect between them was worrying him. If Dongmin left Korea and went to live somewhere else, Sanha wasn’t sure how he could handle himself. Especially now with not being able to just go back to Minhyuk as he wished he would. 

                “Hyung?” Sanha shuffled off the couch and sat in a chair across from Dongmin, a strawberry milk gripped in his hands. “What are you doing?”

                “I’m sorting through my files.” Dongmin mumbled it and gave Sanha a half-hearted smile.

                “Do you want to leave? Leave Korea?”

Dongmin looked up from the papers and frowned. Sanha watched him push aside the papers and sit down properly. “I’m not sure yet.”

                It was silent again. Sanha wasn't satisfied with an 'I'm not sure', especially since he knew it wasn't true. Dongmin had to be sure if he was looking at travel prices for heaven's sake. "Really? You aren't sure?"

                "Sanha..." Dongmin ran a hand through his hair, a habit he had formed when he was anxious or didn't want to tell the truth."You know that making it here after what happens with Minhyuk and his company is going to be nearly impossible. There are a lot more people in the US or somewhere in Europe that want someone who works in robotics - for here I'm more like a dime a dozen."

                "But I don't want you to leave."

                "You can come with me then." Sanha hesitated at the suggestion. He knew that Dongmin wasn't joking around when he said it either, but he wasn't sure if he should make such a jump when Dongmin was sincerely chasing his dreams all this time. As much as Sanha insisted that he just wanted to be an average office worker, he felt like he would be holding Dongmin down by being such a simple person while he wanted to do so much for the world. 

                "I don't know." Dongmin stood from the table and took the papers with him, heading to grab his briefcase. 

                "Think about it, I guess. I'm going to the lab."

                "Are you going to see Minhyuk today?" Sanha had a feeling it was no, but Dongmin informed him that Minhyuk had actually taken Sona so he was going to see him later today. Sanha's hand formed a fist at the information, and he frowned at the older boy. "I hate Sona."

                "I know." A pitiful smile was shot his way as Dongmin opened the door to leave. "I know, Sanha."

***

                Minhyuk was tired of Sona. He had realized rather quickly when interacting with the robot that he was entirely different than Sanha. There was nothing similar in the way they talked...Sona being polite and formal while Sanha was sarcastic and playful. Sona wouldn't give him cute smiles and rest his head on his shoulder. Sona was, of course, just a bunch of metal and an AI, whereas Sanha was a living being.

                He wondered if his heart was real, too. If everything that he did to him was out of feelings towards him or if it was just part of what he had to say for his job. Minhyuk knew he shouldn't get caught up in the past since it just held a million  _what_ _if_ 's, but he really wondered. Was everything he had said or done one sided?

                Sona was sitting across from him at the dinner table, a meal he had made in front of Minhyuk. It looked and smelled delicious, and when he finally took a bite it lived up to the visuals. Still, something made him almost nauseous when he looked between his plate and the robot across from him.

                "Are you okay, hyung?"

                "Did you know Sanha? Yoon Sanha?"

                Sona tilted his head before pausing to scan his files. "Yoon Sanha, aged twenty-two. Often associated with the robotics scientist and my creator, Lee Dongmin. He has one brother and his mother and father, currently living alone in an apartment in Seoul. Sanha is unemployed exempt from a job for Dongmin recently. He attended Korea University and used to live in a small town outside of Seoul. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

                "Did you ever meet him yourself?"

                "Sanha used to be a body in place for me during the last few weeks. He didn't follow my prompts for your questions nearly ever. He would often choose to say what he thought instead. When around you, he always had a raised heartbeat and would create more sweat than average. According to his medical files, this was out of the ordinary, but can be classified as being  _flushed_  or  _shy_  because of your presense."

                Minhyuk stared at Sona for a minute, letting what he had just told him soak in for a bit. Maybe he was crazy, but after hearing such an unbiased robot answer him he felt a lot like what Sanha had done was out of his heart.

                Dongmin came to take Sona back for the day and let Minhyuk choose whether he wanted to keep him. Minhyuk told him that he would need until tomorrow to decide, and Dongmin just gave him a sympathetic look that Minhyuk would rather he kept to himself. He knew that he should have just taken Sona since he had expected from the beginning that he was going to be some cold robot anyway, but he was spoiled with how Sanha treated him.

                It was strange in a way that just having a companion was more desirable than someone who could complete tasks that would be difficult for a regular person, but Minhyuk had realized that Sanha had ignored the want for a sincere connection with someone until he had met Sanha, and now that he had a taste of that, it was impossible to ignore it. Minhyuk glanced at the clock that read eleven in the evening and stood up, grabbing his car keys and phone and running out to his car. 

                "Call Lee Dongmin." The car's speakers started ringing and Minhyuk sped out of his driveway and gate and out to the highway. Dongmin picked up after three rings.

                "Hello? It's really late for you to be callin-"

                "Where’s Sanha right now?" Minhyuk's voice came out a lot more desperate than he expected. He heard Dongmin sigh on the other side and he worried for a moment that he wouldn’t tell him. 

                "He went walking. Normally he'll go to Hangang bridge." He harshly said thank you and hung up, speeding down the highway and heading down to the bridge. It was the one that looked over Han River, and was famously known for people with worries going there to think and clear their mind, unless their worries got the best of them. It worried Minhyuk that he was there even if Dongmin told him it was his regular spot, and he slowed down once he was on the bridge to scan where he might be.

                A tall, lanky figure was hanging over the side, looking down at the water before stepping back and shoving his hands in his pocket and staring up at the stars. Minhyuk instantly recognized him and pulled over haphazardly, ignoring how dangerous it was to leave his car there even with emergency lights, and he hopped over the divider and jogged up to the man. 

                A tap on the shoulder had the person turn around and reveal himself as Sanha, wide eyes that were red with clearly fresh tears seemed surprised to see Minhyuk.

                "Sanha."

                "W-what are you doing here? How did you know I was here?" They stared at each other and Minhyuk had such a loss of words that his mouth stayed agape without any response. "What's wrong?"

                "Can I kiss you? As Yoon Sanha, twenty-two-year-old Korea Uni alumni, Lee Dongmin's best friend, former robot, not as Sona." Minhyuk took a step closer and it was Sanha who was tongue-tied now. Still, he nodded silently and Minhyuk took the leap and placed his hands on Sanha's face before pressing their lips together. His eyes had fluttered closed, and the sounds of cars rushing by seemed to slow when they met. 

                Minhyuk had to admit that there was nothing spectacular about their first kiss, maybe that was chalked up to not allowing himself to feel anything from a supposed robot, but this one was making his world spin. It was the pent up feelings that he felt like he couldn't say, the time apart, and being able to  _finally_  touch him again that added to the magic. They pulled apart slowly, Minhyuk's eyes catching the sparkle of the  _PMH_  bracelet he hadn't returned with the other gifts Minhyuk had given him, and his heart reminded him that yes, he had made a good choice to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOO! HAPPINESS! FINALLY!   
> who would have thought?  
> hope you guys liked this chap, thank you for waiting so patiently for the update ♡  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](http://jingrapher.tumblr.com)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really short, sorry everyone! next chapter will be much longer!

                Sanha being happy was an understatement.

                The fact that Minhyuk had gone out of his way to find him without anyway of contacting him _alone_ made the smile on his face stay for a good four hours. The four were spent across from Minhyuk at his dining room table, a hot cup of tea in his hands and a freshly warmed blanket around his shoulders. They had spent only a few more minutes at the bridge before Minhyuk had taken Sanha to his house, and now Sanha found himself in a comfortable silence after all the talking they had done. It was so nice to be back in Minhyuk’s house, and in his presence at all – Sanha truly thought he was dreaming.

                Minhyuk had a cup of tea as well but it was pushed aside, his eyes resting on Sanha as if to watch over him. There was such a peaceful expression on his face that everything just felt calm, especially since the clock had just turned to three in the morning. He wasn’t tired, though, of course not. Sanha would rather stay up for the rest of his life to just stare at the man across from him.

                “Sanha.” Minhyuk’s quiet voice broke his thoughts, and he nodded as he took a sip from his tea. “What are you going to do now?”

                “W-what do you mean?” Despite it being irrational, Sanha almost thought he was being kicked out.

                “What are you going to do now that you aren’t Sona anymore? Are you going to leave with Dongmin?”

                It was a sore topic to think about, thinking about Dongmin leaving at all was unbearable. Because of this, Sanha hadn’t begun to think of what he would do when Dongmin left. Another sip of his tea was taken before he shrugged, eyes wandering around the room for a moment before settling on Minhyuk’s. “I don’t really know. I should probably get a job and settle down with that. My life has been pretty hectic since I graduated and it’s probably best if I act like an adult now.”

                “What did you major in?”

                “Business and communications.” Sanha softly laughed into his drink, a half-hearted smile at the memory of the classes he had dreaded through all of college. “Not that I enjoy it at all, but it’s what makes money.”

                “What do you enjoy, then?” He was caught off guard at all the questions Minhyuk was asking, but he supposed that Minhyuk didn’t really know _him_ after he was Sona for so long. Sanha explained how much he loved singing and music, and how his parents really were supportive of it but he wanted to stay realistic. Before he knew it, the clock changed to six in the morning and he tried to stifle a yawn before Minhyuk noticed it. However, he was observant as ever, and reached over to grab his cup and put them in the sink to wash later.

                It was strange that there was an unspoken understanding that Sanha would be staying over that night (or day, at this point) but he had already made his way to “Sona’s” room and changed into pajamas. He looked around the room with a warm feeling in his stomach, and he felt so contented now that he could act normal around Minhyuk. A knock at the door made Sanha turn quickly, rushing to open it. Minhyuk had changed too, and once the door was opened he was pulled into his arms for a tight hug. It was a silent one, the only sound Sanha able to hear being the soft rhythmic breathing and heartbeat Minhyuk was making.

                They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Minhyuk loosened it to press a kiss on the top of Sanha’s head, pulling back and studying his face as he smoothed his hair back.

                “I’m so relieved you’re mine.” Sanha’s cheeks lit up at the suggestion, and he hid his face in Minhyuk’s chest instead of replying. “I wish you could stay in my room instead, but we can’t do that yet I suppose. I know Dongmin would kill me.”

                “Minhyuk!” Sanha pulled back and gasped, Minhyuk’s face breaking into a smile.

                “Let’s go to sleep for a bit, I still have work tomorrow but I’ll come back early okay? Don’t go home yet, just wait for me to get back.”

                “I will.”

                “Promise me?” Minhyuk leaned a bit closer to press a chaste kiss on his forehead, then his cheeks, and one for good measure on his nose.

                “I promise, okay! Now let me go to sleep.” The older boy nodded and left a final one on Sanha’s pouting lips, which softened into a smile when Minhyuk walked back to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a full month huh,,,  
> this is more of a filler to say hi, i'm not dead, and also give some fluff as i wrap up the end of this!  
> really sorry for practically abandoning this guy :( this semester is finally over after next week so i am free again~ probably only another chapter or maybe two left of this fic! not sure what i'll be writing next though. would anyone read some nct fics? maybe? let me know!  
> hit me (up) @[jingrapher](jingrapher.tumblr.com)


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